Shirley Neilsen Blum, also known as Shirley Hopps (born 14 October 1932) is an American art historian, author, gallerist, and professor emeritus at the State University of New York, Purchase (1970–1989).
[1] She was married in 1955 to Walter Hopps of the Ferus Gallery and future curator at Pasadena Art Museum, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1966.
[5][6][7] In 1967, she married a co-worker at the Ferus Gallery and art dealer, Irving Blum, which ended in 1976.
[1][4][11] Walter Hopps and Shirley bought out Andy Warhol's first exhibition at Ferus Gallery in 1962, a collection which ended up being worth $15 million dollars by 1996.
[4] Neilsen was the Charles A. Dana Department Chair at Colgate University, from 1973 until 1974.