Naples Illustrated

Art Scene

Mouse Work

The Naples Museum of Art offers a small peek into the huge Mouse House art collection of part-time Neapolitan Olga Hirshhorn.

By Kathy Becker

The Mouse House: Detail of the sitting room, featuring works by Kenneth Noland and Alexander Calder

Part-time Neapolitan Olga Hirshhorn has made a name for herself in the art world. Part of the collection she and her husband, Joseph Hirshhorn, amassed forms the foundation of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and some of her own collection resides at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

In Naples, she also has a name in the art world (The United Arts Council in 2007 named her a Star in the Arts), but she also is known for her regular bike rides and charitable profile in the community.

Like others with a passion for art, Hirshhorn surrounds herself at home with her favorite artwork. She can walk through the Hirshhorn Museum and remember the painting that hung over her dining room table, or the special care a bronze in her garden needed to protect it from the elements.

Life with Joseph Hirshhorn, who died in 1981, was all about art. He was already an avid collector when they met in 1964, and their life included spending time with many of the artists whose work surrounded them, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Man Ray, Alexander Calder and Jacqueline and Pablo Picasso.

Although she has donated pieces to many museums, Olga Hirshhorn still surrounds herself with art. Her small place in Washington— essentially a two-story garage—where Hirshhorn spends one or two months each year, is crammed with more than 150 pieces by Picasso, O’Keeffe, Salvador Dali, Joan Mirò, Henri Matisse, Calder and many other great 20th century artists.