Michael F. Zimmermann

Michael F. Zimmermann was a Professor of Art History at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt since 2004. Previously, he served as Ordinary Professor at the Université de Lausanne (2002–2004) and Deputy Director of the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich (1991–2002). He passed away on April 9, 2025. Early roles included assistant professorships at the Free University of Berlin and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence.

Education: Studied art history, philosophy, and history in Cologne, Rome, and Paris. Earned a PhD (1985) with a thesis on Seurat. His Oeuvre and Art Criticism of His Time, later published internationally. Completed habilitation (2006) on The Industrialization of Phantasy: The Construction of Modern Italy and the System of Arts and Media, 1875–1900.

Research Interests:

• Art and media in Contemporary Italy
• European and North American art history (19th–20th centuries)
• Intersections of arts, physiological psychology, and neuroscience in the 19th century
• Disciplinary history and theory of art history

Awards & Grants: Elected to the Bavarian Academy of Sciences (2008). Recipient of grants from the Getty Center for the Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton). Visiting professorships at Paris X-Nanterre and the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA.

Leadership & Publications: Founded the Master’s program Aithesis. Visual Arts and Literature (2006, Elitenetzwerk Bayern). Edited volumes such as Berlins Museen. Geschichte und Zukunft (1994), Zeitgeschichte in Darstellungen des 19. Jahrhunderts (1997), and Monet (2003). Authored essays on 19th/20th-century art, Italian Mannerism, and art historiography.