Postal Worker and Wife Amass and Donate Extensive Art Collection

Herbert and Dorothy Vogel married in 1962. He was a postal clerk, she a librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. By living off of his salary and using hers to purchase the conceptual and minimalist art that was a mutual obsession, they collected over 5,000 works of art. 

                      Herb and Dorothy Vogel in their NY apartment.  Photograph courtesy Telegraph.co.uk.


Both Vogels are now retired. Until recent years, they kept their huge collection in their modest New York City apartment (one of their fifteen turtles once splashed an Andy Warhol painting). In 1992, they donated 2,000 pieces to The National Gallery of Art.The additional 4,000 pieces that the Vogels have collected since retirement will also go to the National Gallery. 


In 2008, they launched a program called Fifty Works for Fifty States. One museum in each state would be selected to be the recipient of 50 pieces of their art, providing that the museum exhibited the gift within five years.

In Alabama, the Birmingham Museum of Art was chosen to receive the generous gift. The Vogel pieces are on display now through June 6.


To read a more in-depth article about this fascinating couple, click here.


To see clips from the award-winning documentary Herb and Dorothy and to learn more about the film, click here.