James Smalls

Dr. James Smalls is a Professor and Chair of Visual Arts at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), with affiliate appointments in Gender and Women’s Studies and Africana Studies. His research examines intersections of race, gender, and queer sexuality in 19th-century art and Black diasporic visual culture.

• Education: Ph.D. in Art History from UCLA
• Teaching History: Rutgers University, Columbia University, University of Paris

His scholarly work spans monographs, journal essays, and curated exhibitions, including a 2006 retrospective on Henry Ossawa Tanner at the Baltimore Museum of Art. His current book project explores Féral Benga as an African Modernist muse.

Dr. Smalls has edited major works such as The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art (2009-2010) and serves on the Advisory Board for The Archives of American Art Journal (2015). His publications appear in American Art, Third Text, and Art Journal, among others.