Who says you have to be rich to own nice things? Certainly not Herb and Dorothy. This documentary tells the story of Herb and Dorothy Vogel, art collectors and the cutest little elderly couple you’ve ever seen.
It starts in the 1960s. Herb and Dorothy just got married and are living in New York City, where they each try their hand at being artists. They decorate their entire (very small) apartment with their own works. Then comes the Minimalist and Conceptual Art period, and the pair gradually begin replacing their works with a modest collection of art by relatively unknown artists. The only guidelines for these pieces were that they had to fit in the Vogel’s one-bedroom apartment and they had to be affordable. If they got something home and it didn’t fit in their space, they would swap it for another piece.
Neither of the Vogels was particularly well off. Dorothy worked as a librarian, and all of her salary went toward paying the bills, while Herb’s postal clerk position funded their art expenditures. However, this didn’t stop them from collecting nearly 2000 pieces from some of the most well-known artists of their day, including Andy Warhol, Sol LeWitt, Lucio Pozzi and Robert Mangold. In fact, they even went on to develop friendships with most of the artists they bought from. Many of these artists spoke about the Vogels’ patronage on the DVD, calling them the mascots of the contemporary art world and even suggesting that their success may have stemmed from the interest of the Vogels in their artwork. While these clips really demonstrated the influence of the Vogels on the art world, sometimes they were very long. A few of them definitely should have been cut down in order to keep the pacing up.
One of the greatest strengths of this story is that the Vogels’ passion for art is so well portrayed. Not only are they wholly devoted to buying pieces they love, but they even go as far as to donate it all to the National Gallery of Art so that others may view the collection properly and share in the experience. It is truly this fervor that is at the center of the documentary, not the Vogels’ collection. This theme is further inspired by the segments that focus on setting up the Vogels’ backgrounds. Even though these portions are very interesting, some of them detract from the documentary and should have been shortened. Herb and Dorothy’s commentary on each other was delightful, but their siblings could have had a little less screen time. Likewise, Dorothy’s quest to view her childhood home only to find that it was repainted and is no longer beautiful could have been completely removed. I stand by the decision to include Herb’s visit to the post office that he retired from, as he is just so tiny and adorable and I’m not sure how he got the mail in those slots without a ladder. And, oh yeah, one of the guys found out before Herb retired that he was a famous collector, so it totally ties in.
Unfortunately, because this is a relatively low budget film, the sound and picture quality are not always that great. The archived footage is particularly frustrating to watch, mostly because it is so hard to hear. However, the overall message this footage conveys and the mood set by these passages are very influential to Herb and Dorothy, and they should not be missed.
DVD Bonus Features
Herb and Dorothy has a few special features included on the disc. There are some deleted scenes and theatrical trailers. Also, the festival appearances and the theatrical premiere featurettes are worth taking a look at. All of these are pretty short and shed a tad more light on the documentary as a whole.
"Herb and Dorothy" is on sale December 15, 2009 and is rated NR. Documentary. Directed by Megumi Sasaki. Written by N/A. Starring Herbert Vogal, Dorothy Vogel.
