Mimi Hellman

Mimi Hellman is Professor and Department Chair of Art History at Skidmore College. Her work bridges European art history (17th-19th centuries) with interdisciplinary approaches to material culture, domestic spaces, and sensory experiences.

• PhD in Art History, Princeton University (2000)
• MA in Art History, Smith College (1992)

Research Interests focus on 18th-century French visual culture, decorative arts, and the history of domestic environments. She explores how objects shape identity and perception through spatial arrangements, material symbolism, and sensory engagement.

Recent publications analyze Rococo interiors, Enlightenment-era privacy constructs, and the cultural reception of 18th-century art. Her object-based pedagogy emphasizes interdisciplinary learning across art history, design, and food studies.

Teaching includes courses on domestic interiors, body politics in early modern Europe, and art historical methodology. Current projects examine the Hôtel de Soubise's Rococo decoration and the power dynamics of visual glances in 18th-century interiors.