Artists aspire to immortality in strange ways. The struggle to locate one tiny bit of infinity within a creation of a human mind can be a funny, bizarre and occasionally tedious experience to watch. Thankfully, Herb and Dorothy Vogel have no such aspirations. They understand people and pieces of art have different lifespans. After fifty years of cramming their tiny apartment with all the contemporary art that could fit, Megumi Sasaki's Herb and Dorothy 50x50 documents the couple's declining health and their decision to get rid of it all. Herb and Dorothy 50x50 is more of a companion piece to Sasaki's earlier Herb and Dorothy than a sequel. Both films are about art and accessibility. The Vogels' entrance into the annals of art history (detailed...
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- 9/27/2013
- Screen Anarchy
While living in a rent-controlled Manhattan one-bedroom from the 1960s onward, Herbert & Dorothy Vogel assembled one of this country's most comprehensive collections of minimalist modern art, funding their purchases from Herbert's wages as a postal clerk while living off Dorothy's salary as a librarian. They donated most of their collection to the National Gallery of Art in 1992—relieving them of the burden of protecting it from their cats. Megumi Sasaki covered all this in her 2008 documentary Herb & Dorothy. Her follow-up is about the couple's controversial decision to divide their collection, giving 50 pieces to a museum in each U.S. state. The result was at least 50 dramas, only a few of which Sasaki can cover in 85 minutes. The Las Vegas Art Museum permanently closed ...
- 9/11/2013
- Village Voice
Watch the trailer and check out the poster for Megumi Sasaki's Herb & Dorothy 50X50 documentary which FIne Line Features sends to theaters in New York on September 13, 2013. This is a follow-up to Sasaki's award-winning 2008 documentary Herb & Dorothy and captures the last chapter of the Vogel’s extraordinary life and their gift to the nation, raising various questions on art, and what it takes to support art in today’s society. In 2008, legendary art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel made an announcement that stunned the art world. Known and loved as a retired postal worker (Herb) and librarian (Dorothy) who built a world-class art collection on their humble salaries, the Vogels launched a national gift project with the National Gallery of Art (Nga) in Washington DC that would constitute one of the largest gifts in the history of American art: to give a total of 2,500 artworks to museums in all fifty states.
- 8/7/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
In 2008, filmmaker Megumi Sasaki unspooled "Herb & Dorothy," the tale of a postal clerk and librarian who became two of the most unlikely figures in the contemporary art world, thanks to their extensive collection which they gifted to The National Gallery of Art. Now, five years later, Sasaki returns with "Herb & Dorothy 50x50," which follows up on the journey of Herb and Dorothy Vogel and what impact their 1992 present to the nation has had. 16 years after their initial gift to the Nga, the Vogels' collection had expanded from over 2000 works to well over 4000 pieces, and with the museum unable to house them all, a program was launched to gift 50 works to each state. "Herb & Dorothy 50x50" follows that story and how it has resonated. Following the passing of Herb Vogel in July 2012, the collecting has stopped on behalf of Dorothy, but as you'll see in the exclusive trailer for this documentary,...
- 8/2/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Herbert Vogel, who developed a stunning collection of contemporary and minimalist art with his wife Dorothy and was the subject of Megumi Sasaki's documentaries "Herb & Dorothy" and "Herb & Dorothy 50x50," passed away Sunday at age 89. The Vogels started collecting contemporary art before it was popular, buying pieces from then-unknown artists with Herb's meager salary as a postal clerk. As Sasaki recounted to Indiewire during the release of "Herb & Dorothy" in 2009, she first found out about the Vogels when she was working on a program about the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their works were in the Herb and Dorothy Vogel collection. On her website, Sasaki wrote the following message: It is with our deepest sadness and sorrow that we announce the passing of our dear friend, Herbert Vogel. On July 22, 2012, Herbert Vogel passed away in New York City. He was 89 years old. His health had begun to decline rapidly.
- 7/23/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Megumi Sasaki’s doc “Herb & Dorothy’ tells the 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 1960’s, 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 …...
- 6/1/2009
- indieWIRE - People
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