Maria Taroutina

Maria Taroutina is an Assistant Professor of Slavic Studies at Brown University and previously served as Associate Professor of Art History and inaugural faculty at Yale–NUS College (2013–2024). She holds a PhD and BA in History of Art from Yale University. Her research focuses on Imperial and early Soviet Russian art, emphasizing modernity, the historical avant-garde, and the visual culture of empire. She challenges linear narratives through revisionist, cross-temporal approaches.

Education: PhD and BA from Yale University (2013 and 2006). Key awards include the 2019 USC Book Prize for The Icon and the Square and Mellon Foundation grants. Her work explores Orientalism, race, and postcolonial studies, with recent projects on Mikhail Vrubel and Russian imperial aesthetics.

Research highlights include co-editing volumes on Russian Orientalism and Abramtsevo’s legacies. Current projects: a monograph on Vrubel and Imperial Aesthetics. Teaching includes courses on art and politics, modernity, and Russian/Soviet art history. She serves on editorial boards and professional societies like SHERA.