Mary Sheriff

Mary Diana Lee Sheriff (September 19, 1950 – October 19, 2016) was an American art historian, and W.R. Kenan, Jr.

[1] Sheriff was a leading scholar on 18th- and 19th-century French art and culture, transforming the field by re-evaluating rococo painting, introducing feminist perspectives, and examining European art in a global context.

Her work focused on issues of creativity, sexuality, gender, and travel and culture exchange.

[2] Her scholarly achievements were recognized through numerous visiting professorships, invitations to lecture around the globe, awards and fellowships, as well as numerous grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Getty Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

In 2004 and 2007, Sheriff co-taught with Ann Bermingham a pre-doctoral seminar, titled "Sensibility/Sensibilité in Eighteenth-Century England and France," at the Getty Research Institute.