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25 January 2010

"Herb & Dorothy" (trailer) I watched this documentary over the weekend, about a highly unlikely pair of art collectors, and was completely charmed by it.[More:] Herb & Dorothy Vogel are a (now retired) postal clerk and librarian, respectively. Their whole marriage seems to have been founded on their love of art, and in the early 60's they started collecting it. They lived on Dorothy's salary while spending Herb's income on works of conceptual and minimalist art, eventually amassing a huge collection in their tiny New York apartment; then they donated the whole thing to the National Gallery in Washington, DC, because they wanted the collection to stay together, and to be a gift to the people of the United States.

They've started collecting again, though, and their apartment is again jammed with art. And cats.

Here's a cool review
about the documentary from when it aired on PBS last year (it's out on DVD now, which is how I saw it), and here's a website about the Vogel's "50 x 50" project, by which they're now giving art to museums in all 50 states.
BP, thanks for calling this out! I watched the trailer and just forwarded it to people around the museum. We'll consider showing it in conjunction with a program this year. It looks great.

That's a remarkable donation they made - very citizen-spirited. Good on them.

The trailer also made me kick myself, again, for not going to see the Gates when I could have.
posted by Miko 25 January | 10:59
I have had this in my Netflix queue for months. I want to see this!
posted by LoriFLA 25 January | 11:05
I watched this a couple of weeks ago and totally concur. Of course I'm a huge fan of the area of art they collected, but I think the story would interest all. The bulk of their donated art went to the Nation Gallery, which is great, but they also are sending fifty pieces to a museum in every state, which is amazing. You can see what from the collection is going where at this site: Vogel 50x50. I can't wait to see a bit of their collect at SAM.
posted by kodama 25 January | 15:28
Whoops, lost an "al" up there: Vogel Collection at the National Gallery of Art.
posted by kodama 25 January | 15:31
but I think the story would interest all.

When I posted I meant to include this little story: my partner had no interest in watching the movie with me, so I just started it by myself. He passed through the living room about 45 minutes later, stopped to watch a minute, and was hooked. When it was over, he even went back and watched the 45 minutes he'd missed at the beginning.

So yeah, I don't think you need to be a fan of modern art at all to enjoy what a great story it is, and what cool characters they both are.
posted by BoringPostcards 25 January | 17:20
I saw it last spring...and was delighted to find a portion of their collection at the Columbia museum!
posted by brujita 26 January | 03:03
I saw this a while ago so the details are not so fresh for me, but I definitely enjoyed this. Things I remember liking:
-that Herb worked at the post office
-that it was something they did together
-that they could fit so much into a small place (though that was a little scary too)
-that they don't really articulate what they like or why they like it

When I saw Carmen Herrera's art in the NYT, one of my first thoughts was "I bet Herb and Dorothy had some Herreras in their home."
posted by PY 26 January | 06:14
Incredible film posters from Poland. || What have you changed your mind about lately?

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