Herbert and Dorothy Vogel

Herbert Vogel (August 16, 1922 – July 22, 2012) and Dorothy Vogel (born 1935), once described as "proletarian art collectors,"[1] worked as civil servants in New York City for more than a half-century while amassing what has been called one of the most important post-1960s art collections in the United States,[2] mostly of minimalist and conceptual art.[3] Herbert Vogel died on July 22, 2012, in a Manhattan nursing home.[4]

Early years

Herbert Vogel, known as Herb, was the son of a Russian Jewish garment worker from Harlem.[5] He never finished high school and, after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, worked nights as a clerk sorting mail for the United States Postal Service until his retirement in 1979. Dorothy Faye Hoffman is the daughter of an Orthodox Jewish stationery merchant from Elmira, New York.[5] She received a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and a master's degree from the University of Denver, both in library science, and worked until her retirement in 1990 as a librarian for the Brooklyn Public Library.[6]

Herbert and Dorothy married in 1962, a year after they met, in Elmira.[7] Early in their marriage, they took painting classes at New York University, but later gave up painting in favor of collecting. They had no children, lived very frugally, and shared their living space with fish, turtles, and cats named after famous painters.[8][9]

Early acquisitions

One of their earliest acquisitions was a work by Giuseppe Napoli that Herb bought before marrying Dorothy. They bought a ceramic piece by Pablo Picasso to celebrate their engagement. A piece called Crushed Car Parts by American sculptor John Chamberlain was their first post-wedding acquisition.[10]

The couple used Dorothy's income to cover their living expenses and instead of eating in restaurants or travelling, they used Herb's income, which peaked at $23,000 annually,[11] for art. They didn't buy for investment purposes, choosing only pieces they personally liked and could carry home on the subway or in a taxi.[12] They bought directly from the artists, often paying in installments. Once, according to the Washington Post, they received a collage from environmental artist Christo in exchange for cat-sitting.[13] In 1975, they held the first exhibition of their collection, at the Clocktower Gallery in lower Manhattan.[9]

The collection

They amassed a collection of over 4,782 works, which they displayed, and also stored in closets and under the bed, in their rent-controlled one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side.[14][15] Though their focus was mainly conceptual art and minimalist art,[16] the collection also includes noteworthy post-minimalist work.[10] Their collection eventually came to include work from artists such as pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, photographers Cindy Sherman and Lorna Simpson, minimalist Robert Mangold and post-minimalist Richard Tuttle.

In 1992, the Vogels decided to transfer the entire collection to the National Gallery of Art because it charges no admission, doesn't sell donated works, and they wanted their art to belong to the public.[17] In late 2008, they launched The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States along with the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.[18] The program donated 2,500 works to 50 institutions across 50 states and was accompanied by a book with the same name.

Documentaries

Megumi Sasaki has made two documentaries about the Vogels.

Released in 2008, Herb and Dorothy focused on the story of the Vogels, how they amassed their collection, and their donation of it to the National Gallery of Art. It won six awards at five different film festivals.[19][20][21][22]

Released in 2013, Herb and Dorothy 50x50 continued from when the previous documentary had ended, and concentrated on the distribution of fifty works from the collection to one museum in each of the fifty states within the U.S. as well as the role that the Vogels and some of the artists had in their exhibition.[23]

Friendships with notable artists

The Vogels bought art from and became close friends with influential New York artists of the second half of the 20th century including Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and many of the artists listed below.[10]

List of recipient museums

The recipient museums of the Vogel Collection's Fifty Works for Fifty States program are:

Alabama – Birmingham Museum of Art Alaska – University of Alaska Museum of the North Arizona – Phoenix Art Museum Arkansas – Arkansas Arts Center California – Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Colorado – Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Connecticut – Yale University Art Gallery Delaware – Delaware Art Museum Florida – Miami Art Museum Georgia – High Museum of Art

Hawaii – Honolulu Museum of Art Idaho – Boise Art Museum Illinois – University Museum, Southern Illinois University Indiana – Indianapolis Museum of Art Iowa – Museum of Art Cedar Rapids Kansas – Spencer Museum of Art Kentucky – Speed Art Museum Louisiana – New Orleans Museum of Art Maine – Portland Museum of Art Maryland – Academy Art Museum

Massachusetts – Harvard Art Museums Michigan – University of Michigan Museum of Art Minnesota – Weisman Art Museum Mississippi – Mississippi Museum of Art Missouri – Daum Museum of Contemporary Art Montana – Yellowstone Art Museum Nebraska – Joslyn Art Museum Nevada – Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery New Hampshire – Hood Museum of Art New Jersey – Montclair Art Museum

New Mexico – New Mexico Museum of Art New York – Albright-Knox Art Gallery North Carolina – Weatherspoon Art Museum North Dakota – Plains Art Museum Ohio – Akron Art Museum Oklahoma – Oklahoma City Museum of Art Oregon – Portland Art Museum Pennsylvania – Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Rhode Island – Rhode Island School of Design Museum South Carolina – Columbia Museum of Art

South Dakota – South Dakota Art Museum Tennessee – Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Texas – Blanton Museum of Art Utah – Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art Vermont – Robert Hull Fleming Museum Virginia – Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Washington – Seattle Art Museum West Virginia – Huntington Museum of Art Wisconsin – Milwaukee Art Museum Wyoming – University of Wyoming Art Museum

List of artists

The artists included in the Vogels' gifts are:

Gregory Amenoff Eric Amouyal William Anastasi Joe Andoe Carl Andre Stephen Antonakos Richard Anuszkiewicz Nancy Arlen Anne Arnold Richard Artschwager Jo Baer Carel Balth Will Barnet Robert Barry Zigi Ben-Haim Lynda Benglis Joseph Beuys James Bishop Ronald Bladen Dike Blair William (Bill) Bollinger Gary Bower Lisa Bradley Richmond Burton André Cadéré Loren Calaway Peter Campus McWillie Chambers Ann Chernow Chryssa Michael Clark (Clark Fox) John Clem Clarke Charles Clough Kathleen Cooke Peggy Cyphers Gene Davis Claudia de Monte Stuart Diamond Lois Dodd Koki Doktori Rackstraw Downes Robert Duran Benni Efrat William Fares

R.M. Fischer Joel Fisher Richard Francisco Adam Fuss Charles Gaines Pinchas Cohen Gan Dixie Friend Gay Jon Gibson David Gilhooly Michael Goldberg Ronald Gorchov Sidney Gordin Dan Graham Denise Green Rodney Alan Greenblat Peter Halley William L. Haney Don Hazlitt Jene Highstein Stewart Hitch Jim Hodges Tom Holland John Hultberg Ralph Humphrey Bryan Hunt David Hunter Peter Hutchinson Will Insley Patrick Ireland aka Brian O’Doherty Ralph Iwamoto Neil Jenney Bill Jensen Martin Johnson Joan Jonas Tobi Kahn Stephen Kaltenbach Steven Karr Steve Keister Alain Kirili Mark Kostabi Moshe Kupferman Cheryl Laemmle Ronnie Landfield Michael Lash

John Latham Michael Lathrop Wendy Lehman Annette Lemieux Jill Levine Sol LeWitt Roy Lichtenstein Robert Lawrance Lobe Michael Lucero Robert Mangold Sylvia Plimack Mangold Andy Mann Antoni Miralda William Morehouse Kyle Morris Vik Muniz Takashi Murakami Catherine E. Murphy Elizabeth Murray Forrest Myers Giuseppe Napoli Joseph Nechvatal Richard Nonas David Novros Nam June Paik Raymond Parker Betty Parsons Henry C. Pearson Joel Perlman Richard Pettibone Lil Picard Larry Poons Katherine Porter Lucio Pozzi David Rabinowitch David Reed Edda Renouf Edward Renouf Judy Rifka Rodney Ripps Alexis Rockman Stephen Rosenthal Christy Rupp David Salle

John Salt Alan Saret David Sawin F. (Frank) L. Schröder Hans Jürgen [H.A.] Schult Peter Schuyff Barbara Schwartz Joel Shapiro Judith Shea Cindy Sherman Alan Shields Yinka Shonibare James Siena Lorna Simpson Tony Smith Keith Sonnier Richard Stankiewicz Robert Stanley Pat Steir Gary Stephan Michelle Stuart Donald Sultan Lori Taschler Hap Tivey John Torreano Daryl Trivieri Richard Tuttle Lynn Umlauf Leo Valledor Richard Van Buren Ruth Vollmer Ursula von Rydingsvard Robert Marshall Watts Lawrence Weiner Bettina Werner Joseph White Thornton Willis Terry Winters Tod Wizon Martin Wong Betty Woodman Mario Yrissary Larry Zox Joe Zucker Michael Zwack

See also

• 1992 in art

References

• National Gallery of Art, The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, Washington DC, National Gallery of Art, 2008, ISBN 0-615-23271-X
• Paoletti. John T., From Minimal to Conceptual Art: Works from the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, Washington DC, National Gallery of Art, 1994, ISBN 0-89468-206-7

Footnotes

1. Tully, Judd (7 August 2012). "Remembering Herbert Vogel, The Postman Who Amassed One of America's Greatest Art Collections". ARTINFO. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
2. "Collector Herbert Vogel has died aged 89". Art Media Agency. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
3. Pes, Javier (24 July 2012). "US collector extraordinaire dies aged 89". The Art Newspaper. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
4. "Herbert Vogel obituary". The Washington Post. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
5. Tablet Magazine accessed Jan. 3, 2011
6. "Herbert Vogel". Herb & Dorothy 50X50. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
7. http://vogel5050.org/#about, Accessed June 4, 2011
8. Miller, Stephen (23 July 2012). "REMEMBRANCES: HERBERT VOGEL 1922-2012 Longtime Collector of Works From Before Artists Emerged". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
9. D'Arcy, David (16 January 1992). "The Unlikely Medici : A Pair of Art Fans Assemble What May Be the 'Premier Collection' of Its Type". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
10. "Vogel 50x50: The Collection Goes Public". Retrieved 2009-12-22.
11. Martin, Douglas (23 July 2012). "Herbert Vogel, Fabled Art Collector, Dies at 89". New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
12. Akst, Daniel (23 July 2012). "In the art world, Herbert Vogel was a mailman who delivered". Newsday. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
13. Schudel, Matt (2 July 2012). "Herbert Vogel, unlikely art collector and benefactor of National Gallery, dies at 89". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
14. Esman, Abigail (22 July 2012). "Great American Art Collector Herbert Vogel Dies". Forbes. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
15. Hoffman, Allison (31 December 2009). "The masterpiece under the bed: Film celebrates couple's eclectic collection of contemporary art". Tabletmag.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
16. Beckman, Rachel (2008-06-19). "'Herb and Dorothy': You Can't Spell Heart Without Art". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
17. Gilbert, Sophie (23 July 2012). "Herbert Vogel, Art Collector, Dies". Washingtonian. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
18. "The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
19. "Hamptons International Film Festival » Awards". East Hampton, NY: Hamptons International Film Festival. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
20. Comita, Jenny (November 2008). "Perfect Vision". W Magazine. New York, NY, USA: Condé Nast. Culture > Art & Design. ISSN 0162-9115. OCLC 1781845. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
21. "Herb & Dorothy". arthousefilmsonline.com. New York, NY: Arthouse Films / New Video. July 2009. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
22. "HBO Audience Awards". ptownfilmfest.org. 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
23. O’Sullivan, Michael (2013-10-03). "'Herb and Dorothy 50x50' movie review". The Washington Post. Washington, DC. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved 2013-10-03.

External links

• Vogel 50/50
• The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel papers, 1960-1990, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
• Herbert Vogel, Fabled Art Collector, Dies at 89; New York Times