“Herb and Dorothy” is an inspiration; a shining example of passion and hard work to get what you want out of life.
First time director, Megumi Sasaki’s award wining documentary follows Herb and Dorothy Vogel, a couple who married in the ’60s and shared a passion for art. They went from being wannabe artists who hung their own art on their walls to slowly becoming two of the most important private collectors of minimalist and conceptual art. Living solely on her librarian’s salary and using his postal clerk earnings to buy art, the unassuming NY couple lived frugally in order to support their obsession, following the rules that the drawings, paintings and sculptures be affordable and small enough to fit into their one-bedroom apartment. They succeeded in befriending the artists and buying directly, which pissed off a lot of art dealers. But the Vogels became the exception and were widely known for their pure passion for art. They attended every art show, gallery opening and auction possible and over the years accumulated a stunning collection of contemporary art.
Interviews with artists such as Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, and Richard Mangold reveal the couple to be unique curatorial visionaries. The Vogels simply buy what they like and the filmmaker wisely made sure we understood how the Vogels look at art versus how they talk about art. Herb actually says very little; he mostly stares intensely at a piece and listens to his gut, often saying, “I like it. It’s perfect,” even when being shown an unfinished work. (It actually would have been great to see the Vogels share an example of what they don’t like.)
At first, the look of the film nearly sent us running to another screening, but we quickly forgave the amateur DV look of the doc because it was obviously a case of subject over style (though saying Sasaki has style is overreaching) and showed that the filmmaker was working within in her means to create a work of art to give back to the rest of us, just as Herb and Dorothy had done. The Vogels found freedom in the constraints of their salaries and were able to create for themselves a rich life full of art and long-lasting friendships, which they were eventually able to share with the world.
They generously donated their unique collection to the National Gallery of Art in D.C., and when the museum could only feasibly accept 1,000 pieces, the Vogels decided to evenly distribute the remainder of their collection to the rest of the country in a project called 50 Works for 50 States.
The filmmaker’s efforts are a direct effect of having been influenced by the Vogels who stopped at nothing to live the life they wanted. Sasaki was not the first filmmaker to approach the eccentric couple about documenting their life. But she was the only one showed up with a camera, naively thinking she would quickly capture and have the project wrapped in a year. But Sasaki found herself unveiling hundreds of photos and media coverage on the Vogels, interviewing artist and curators and diving head on into a world of art she knew little about. Four years later, and like most documentary subjects, their story kept getting bigger and bigger, which is depicted well when the National Gallery of Art went to remove the Vogel’s massive collection from their tiny, at-capacity Manhattan apartment. His men showed up with one large moving truck—the size large enough to move an entire home— thinking that would suffice, but indeed ending up needing five more trucks.
Herb and Dorothy leaves you with a fuller understanding of minimalist and conceptual art world and also with the inspiration of these two visionaries that having passion can lead you to anything you want. They are unique examples that you don’t have to be artists to make an indelible mark in the art world. [A]