Kermit S. Champa
# Kermit S. Champa

Kermit Swiler Champa (August 20, 1939 – July 22, 2004) was an American art historian and educator. A scholar of Impressionism, Champa was the Andrea V. Rosenthal Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at Brown University from 1970 to 2004.

## Career

Born in Lancaster to Valentino Anthony and Gladys Swiler, Champa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Yale University in 1960, where he played trombone. He went on to receive a Doctor of Philosophy in Art History from Harvard University in 1965, where he studied under Frederick B. Deknatel and Clement Greenberg. Champa wrote a doctoral dissertation about the Impressionist period, under Deknatel.

A specialist on Impressionist paintings, Champa first taught at Yale as an Assistant Professor of Art History. He then moved to Brown University in 1970. A year later, he was honored by the Government of Germany with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1974, Champa became a full Professor and was named the Andrea V. Rosenthal Professor of the History of Art and Architecture in 1995. He taught there until death in 2004 from lung cancer.

## Selected works

* German Painting of the 19th Century, 1970
* Studies in Early Impressionism, 1973
* Mondrian Studies, 1985
* The Rise of Landscape Painting in France: Corot to Monet, 1991
* Masterpiece Studies: Manet, Zola, Van Gogh, and Monet, 1994
