Herb and Dorothy Vogel in their Manhattan apartment
From independent filmmaker Megumi Sasaki comes Herb & Dorothy, the extraordinary story of an ordinary couple–a librarian and a postal work who together amassed one of the most important contemporary art collections in the world. Over a 45-year period, Herb & Dorothy filled every inch of available space in their cramped one-bedroom apartment with over 4000 works by visionaries such as Lynda Bengalis, Sol LeWitt and Richard Tuttle when their work was still unappreciated.
Untitled work by Robert Marshall Watts (1964), Vogel Collection
Limited by a modest income, the couple vowed to live on Dorothy’s salary and devote Herb’s to their passion for collection–and to only buy what they could carry themselves. Throughout the 1960s, Herb and Dorothy collected the most daring Minimalist and Conceptual Art pieces they could afford (once paying for a Cristo work by exchanging cat-sitting services). Eventually courted by every major museum, the couple stunned the art world by donating their entire several million dollar collection to the National Gallery of Art. Herb and Dorothy still live in their unassuming apartment with their pets and fresh art on their walls. This critically-acclaimed documentary can be viewed on Netflix and PBS.
