Little Man in a Big Hurry: The Life of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Uranium King and Art Collector - Hardcover

Gene Hirshhorn LePere

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0533160790 ISBN 13: 9780533160792

Publisher: Vantage Press Inc, 2009

Synopsis

The remarkable story of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, who donated the largest private art collection ever accumulated to the people of the United States. A rags-to-riches story of an immigrant Jewish boy, barely eight years old, who arrived in the United States from Latvia in 1907 and who, through oversized ambition, energy, smarts, luck, and determination, accumulated a multi-million-dollar collection of contemporary art which is now housed on the Mall in Washington, D.C., in a Smithsonian Museum which bears his name: The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Joe's father died in Latvia when Joe, the twelfth of thirteen children was one year old. By 1906 his mother, with two of her daughters, arrived in Brooklyn where they worked in sweatshops to bring the remainder of the children to America. From this humble beginning, ambitious Joe set out to lift his family out of poverty. His first financial successes were made as a broker's broker, with later successes in gold and uranium mining. He was also married four times, and struggled to balance family life with the work that consumed him. Having developed a fascination with art that brightened up "ugly walls" where he had lived as a child, Joe Hirshhorn began a hobby that would soon turn into a joyful obsession, buying and collecting art. After he accumulated a vast and impressive collection, offers to house the collection came pouring in from London, Italy, Canada, and Israel. Finally, under the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, a suitable museum was built where Mr. Hirshhorn's collection is on display today. This is his amazing story, as told by his daughter.

About this title

About the Author

Gene Hirshhorn LePere is the second daughter of Joseph Hirshhorn, born in October of 1926. Ms. LePere received her B.A. from the University of Southern California in 1949, and her MBA from Pace University in 1977. Raised in Great Neck, New York, the author has lived a bi-coastal life, living in both Los Angeles and New York. She has traveled extensively to India, China, the South Pacific, Jordan, Israel, Oman, Yemen, Turkey, Egypt, and "everywhere but South America." She is the author of Never Pass This Way Again, and has worked as a marketing researcher, antiques dealer, decorator, and social worker, as well as working for Reader's Digest magazine. The author currently works as a genealogist and enjoys hand quilting in her spare time. She lives in Los Angeles, California. To visit the author's website, please visit genehirshhornlepere.com.

Edition details

• Publisher: Vantage Press Inc
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0533160790
• ISBN 13: 9780533160792
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 271