[1] Levin was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Northside High School.

[citation needed] At the Whitney Museum of American Art, Levin was the curator of several landmark touring exhibitions, including Edward Hopper: Prints and Illustrations (1979) and Edward Hopper: The Art and The Artist (1980); Synchromism and American Color Abstraction, 1910-1925 (1978); and co-curator with Robert Hobbs of Abstract Expressionism: The Formative Years (1978).

She wrote the foreword to "The Lining of Our Souls: Excursion into Selected Paintings by Edward Hopper" by Rolando Pérez (Cuban poet).

"[13] Levin also spearheaded a recent revival of the artist Theresa Bernstein (1890-2002) by producing and editing "Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art," a monograph with essays by herself, four of her graduate students, and two other scholars, which accompanies a touring exhibition and a comprehensive research website.

[14] Levin was the founding president of the Catalogue Raisonne Scholars Association[18] and she serves on the Academic Advisory Council of the Jewish Women's Archive.