Albert Boime was born in St. Louis Missouri, on March 17, 1933. He received a B.A. degree from UCLA, and an M.A. degree and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He was a UCLA faculty member since 1978, teaching the Social History of Modern Art.

Professor Boime was the author of over 140 books and articles, totaling over 9,000 pages, and attended seminars and given lectures in many museums and universities around the world.

His pedagogical imperative was the training and stimulation of the mind to independent thought through exposure to the visual products of inventive human beings unafraid of unrestricted openness to experience. He believed that an understanding of imagery will show that we were not yet too fallen and depraved to be able to reform the world in the name of suffering humanity.
In Albert Boime's own words written for the preface of his latest book "The Birth of Abstract Romanticism":

"By examining the political forces that motivated the art makers and finders, and revealing the hidden mainsprings in visual production, I truly believed that I was contributing to the emancipation of thought, at least in one small corner of the minds of my students and readers. Thus art history became my raison d'être, a vehicle for enhancing the lives of my fellow citizens, while at the same time bringing about a nanno-change toward social justice in society."