Herb and Dorothy Vogel with Archie Vogel and a wall of Richard Tuttle works. photo Ben Hoffmann
“MANY THINGS PLACED HERE AND THERE/TO FORM A PLACE CAPABLE OF SHELTERING/MANY THINGS PUT HERE AND THERE.”
The above text is from a Lawrence Weiner work that lives on the bathroom wall of the Vogels’ Manhattan apartment, next to a Sol Lewitt drawing on another wall. Richard Tuttle’s “3rd Rope Piece” is installed next to their front door frame and light sensitive drawings are covered up with beach towels that hang down from the walls. These “artists’ collectors” are legends in the New York art world. For the last 30 years Herb and Dorothy Vogel have been growing a collection of art that’s reached nearly 5,000 from some of New York’s most avant-garde minimalists, abstractionists and conceptualists, all with care and concern for the artists themselves. In the documentary, Herb&Dorothy, you get an entertaining glimpse into their world, their passion and their complete devotion to art.
Pledging nearly their entire collection to The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Vogels never saw the buying of art as something to make profit from. They’ve never sold any of their collection, despite multiple offers and with an unspeakably high value, they’ve still decided to give it all away and continue living and buying from within their cramped rent-stable apartment. Their true connections with artists and their devotion to making it accessible to everyone is something to be greatly admired. Watching this documentary really shows how much the art world and New York has changed. They don’t come like the Vogels anymore.
Be sure and watch the documentary, available for free on Netflix Instant.
