Master of Arts in Art History, San Francisco State University, CA
Master of Arts in French, Middlebury College, VT
Bachelor of Arts in Art, University of Iowa, IA

Patricia Albers is the author of Shadows, Fire, Snow: The Life of Tina Modotti (University of California Press), honored by the Library Journal as a Best Book of 1999. She also curated the exhibition "Tina Modotti and the Mexican Renaissance" for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival. Recently she completed Lady Painter: A Life of Joan Mitchell, a biography of the New York School artist to be published by Knopf in 2010. In addition, she has written numerous articles and catalogue essays about modern art and photography.

Albers has a B.A. in art from the University of Iowa and an M.A. in French literature from Middlebury College. During eight years in Paris, she studied at the Sorbonne and wrote regularly for Le Nouveau Photo-Cinéma, among other publications. Later she earned an M.A. in art history from San Francisco State University, and worked as an administrator and curator at Bay Area museums. She teaches Writing in the Arts and Modern Art History.

Besides teaching modern art history and the writing workshop, I am a writer.  My first book was a biography of photographer Tina Modotti, and my second a biography of abstract painter Joan Mitchell.  Currently I’m researching and writing a book about Hungarian-born photographer André Kertész.

Modern Art History is a lower division survey of modern and contemporary Western art.  The class focuses on major works of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and new media of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, viewed in their historical, socio-political, and cultural contexts.  We also look at the evolution of ideas, styles, and techniques and discuss the dynamics of the contemporary art world.   

Writing Workshop (Art 100W) is an advanced writing course that focuses on types of writing relevant to artists, designers, photographers, art historians, and other visual arts professionals.  The goal is to develop proficiency in the research, reading, and writing strategies you will find useful in your career.