Herb & Dorothy
This is the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb’s salary to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy’s paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment.
Sample Discussion Guide Questions:
Mangold states that the “art world was their habitat.” The Vogels lived in the arts culture of New York very completely, attending gallery shows, befriending artists and always staying informed. Can you think of other examples of individuals who helped cultivate art in the way the Vogels did, whether it be performing or visual art, literature or music? In what ways did these individuals impact art?
The way Herb and Dorothy collected art became as much an art form as the art they were collecting. How does the way they built their collection fit into the definition of Minimalist or Conceptual theory?
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