Douglas Fordham

Douglas Fordham is a Professor of Art History at the University of Virginia and serves as Department Chair. His research focuses on British art, the visual culture of empire, and eighteenth- to nineteenth-century art, with a particular emphasis on the intersections of art and imperialism in the Anglophone world from the seventeenth century to the present.

His scholarly contributions include co-editing Art and the British Empire (2007), a foundational work in the study of British imperial art, and authoring monographs such as British Art and the Seven Years' War: Allegiance and Autonomy (2010) and Aquatint Worlds: Travel, Print, and Empire (2019). These works explore themes like imperial politics, aquatint printmaking, and cross-cultural representation circa 1800. He also collaborates on exhibitions, including Boomalli Prints & Paper: Making Space as an Art Collective (2022), with the Fralin Museum of Art and the Kluge-Ruhe Collection of Aboriginal Art.

Professor Fordham’s ongoing research examines graffiti in print records, Enlightenment-era iconography, and indigenous printmaking traditions. He is committed to mentoring PhD students in British art, imperial history, and indigenous artistic practices.