Agnieszka Taborska has been an art historian, writer and lecturer at RISD since 1989. She teaches late 19th and 20th century European art, film and literature. Her main area of interest is the image of women in fin de siecle Western art and literature, French Surrealism, the significance of women in the movement and the impact Surrealism has on contemporary art. She produced RISD annual Cabarets (1992-1997). She taught at Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art, Pont-Aven, France (1996-2004). She has curated exhibitions of Surrealist art in France and Poland and written scripts for documentary films related to Surrealism. She is the author of 11 books published in Poland, US, France, Germany, Japan and Korea. Her works of fiction have received literary prizes in Germany, were adapted for stage and brought to screen in form of animated films awarded at International Film Festivals. The excerpts of her new book, The Unfinished Life of Phoebe Hicks, were published in The Saint Ann’s Review (Fall 2009, Fall 2010). Her books include Conspirators of Imagination. Surrealism(collection of essays published in Poland), The Whale, or Objective Chance” (collection of short stories published in Poland), and “The Dreaming Life of Leonora de la Cruz (published in Poland, France and the US).

Academic research/ areas of interest

• Femmes Fatales figures in late 19th and early 20th century Western art
• Relationship between academic painting and early Hollywood films
• “High” art versus “low” art: academic painting and early postcards
• French Surrealism: literature, film, photography, collage, surrealist objects
• Role of women inside the Surrealist group: female artists versus muses
• Impact of Surrealism on contemporary art
• Surrealism and contemporary media

Wintersession 2019 Courses

• HAVC-W620-01 Femmes Fatales & Domestic Nuns: Images Of Women In 19th and 20th Century Western Art
• HAVC-W662-01 The Myth Of The City In 19th and 20th Century Western Art

Spring 2019 Courses

• HAVC-H102-17 Thad II: Premodern Worlds
• HAVC-H102-18 Thad II: Premodern Worlds