I am an art historian who specializes in the art and visual culture of nineteenth- and twentieth- century Europe, with a focus on France and its empire. My research is centered on French Symbolism, gender, diaspora, racialization, and artist’s books. My work investigates how modern art participates in broader social networks, uncovering new perspectives on the dynamics that shape artistic creation and reception. My current book project is tentatively titled Rereading Gauguin: Artistic Dialogues at the Genesis of Modernism.
I earned my doctorate in art history and a certificate in women’s studies from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and my bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College. My research has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the CUNY Graduate Center, the NEA Foundation, and the Van Gogh Museum.
I have been invited to present my research to general and academic audiences at the New York Public Library and the Program in Gender and Sexualities Studies at Princeton University. Additionally, I have spoken widely at national and international conferences, including the Association for Art History, the College Art Association, the International Comparative Literature Association, and the Nineteenth-Century Studies Association, among others.
I teach courses on modern art with an emphasis on the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.
I am currently a Lecturer in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Art Departments of City College and Lehman College. In 2022, I was awarded a teaching prize from the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.
My name is pronounced / ˈæɹən slʌ-dʌv-nɪk / and I go by “he”. I have been a New Yorker for over 20 years and live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan with my spouse and two children. I grew up in central Illinois; my mother was a ceramic artist and my father was a photojournalist. When I’m not thinking about art or family, I’m daydreaming about the course I’ll take one day at the WoodenBoat School.