Kelly Presutti

Kelly Presutti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches courses in modern Western art and environmental humanities, focusing on 19th-century art and ecocritical theory.

• Education: Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Her research examines landscape as a medium of state power negotiation and environmental contestation. Key projects include Land into Landscape: Art, Environment, and the Making of Modern France (2024) and a study of French naval art collections that recontextualizes imperial maritime identity through disasters and failures.

Recent publications span topics from Bernard Palissy's environmental legacy to British hydrographic watercolors. Her work has been supported by Harvard's Center for European Studies, Dumbarton Oaks, and multiple international fellowships.

• Scientific Awards: Huntington Library Fellowship, Yale Center for British Art Fellowship, National Maritime Museum Fellowship, Bourse Chateaubriand