Emmelyn Butterfield-Rosen

Emmelyn Butterfield-Rosen is an Assistant Professor of Nineteenth-Century European Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Previously, she served as Associate Director of the Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art at the Clark Art Institute. Her research bridges art history with biology, psychology, and cultural studies, focusing on themes like human posture, animal imagery, and the intersections of visual and performing arts.

Her doctoral work at Princeton University, supervised by Professor Brigid Doherty, earned the Jane Faggen Dissertation Prize. Key projects include her book Modern Art & the Remaking of Human Disposition (2021), which analyzes formal shifts in European art around 1900, and a forthcoming study exploring Darwin’s evolutionary theories in aesthetic concepts. She regularly contributes long-form reviews to Artforum, examining exhibitions like Titian: Women, Myth & Power.

• Education: Ph.D. in Art History, Princeton University (2015)
• Awards: Jane Faggen Dissertation Prize, David E. Finley Fellowship
• Research Interests: Modern art, biology-psychology intersections, animal studies, dance/film history, art criticism

Her writing spans scholarly articles in journals like Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics and The Burlington Magazine, alongside critical reviews that contextualize contemporary art exhibitions within broader historical narratives.