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She took long walks with Georgia O’Keefe at the famous Ghost Ranch. She visited Man Ray at his home in France. She received pieces from Pablo Picasso signed, “Love, your friend, Pablo.”
Naples resident Olga Hirshhorn, widow of renowned art collector Joseph Hirshhorn (of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden fame), was as in touch with the art world as just about anyone. She died Oct. 3 in Naples at age 95.
She was just as passionate about the arts as her husband was, collecting and donating pieces to museums and galleries both near and far. After arriving in Naples in 1969, she helped grow the local arts scene through her involvement with the Naples Art Association and Artis—Naples.
But she was more than just art. She was an athlete; she swam daily well into her 90s and played tennis competitively. She was a high school newspaper editor who always thought she could have made a good journalist.
Read more about the life of Olga Hirshhorn in our 2012 profile by art critic Donald Miller.
In 2013, she was named one of Gulfshore Life’s Men & Women of the Year. Read more about the honor here.