Reading

‘Herb and Dorothy’: You Can’t Spell Heart Without Art

Previous Story

the b list

Next Story

Screams & Screens at Civilian Art Projects


Herb and Dorothy Vogel at the National Gallery. They amassed a valuable collection of contemporary art over the years on a modest income. (Fine Line Media)

‘Herb and Dorothy’: You Can’t Spell Heart Without Art by Rachel Beckman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 19, 2008; Page C05

Herbert and Dorothy Vogel like the most unlikable art. They own a few inches of frayed rope with a nail through it. A curved lead pipe. A black cardboard square with the definition of the word “nothing” printed on it in white.

The works, by Richard Tuttle, Carl Andre and Joseph Kosuth, respectively, are part of the more than 4,000 works that Dorothy, a 73-year-old retired librarian, and her husband Herb, an 85-year-old retired postal clerk, have collected. They started buying minimal and conceptual art in New York in the early 1960s, living on Dorothy’s salary and spending Herb’s on art.

A documentary about their love affair with art, “Herb and Dorothy,” screens tomorrow and Saturday at the Silverdocs film festival.

To read the entire article in today’s Washington Post, click here.

Related Stories
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $1M Public Art Challenge “encourages mayors to partner with artists, elevating the creative sector when developing solutions to significant urban issues”

Inviting Light is transforming the Station North Arts District with five site-specific public art installations and a series of dynamic community events this year.

Towson University Exhibits Contemporary Artists with Historical Curiosities

Reverie & Alchemy, the group exhibition at Towson University, brings works by ten featured artists together with historical, even ancient, objects from TU’s multi-department collection.

How the Community Art Organization Earned Its Staying Power

Since the first classes Pupkin designed 25 years ago, the program has developed over 600 lesson plans—and in just the past year the organization provided 14,000 classes to Baltimore residents in schools, community centers, hospitals, shelters, veteran’s facilities, nursing homes, and more.

Baltimore art news updates from independent & regional media

This week's news includes: Cover girl Amy Sherald and her Whitney show, Malcolm Peacock at the BMA, Farmers' Market concerns, Lisa Gail Collins awarded literature prize from The Driskell Center, local craft stores, Neighborhood Design Center's 2025 Placemaking Forum, and more!