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Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Homage to the Legendary Vogels

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is having a good March: there’s been a steady stream of announcements — on a laudable new searchable database of deaccessions, the acquisition of Gauguin’s “Volpini Suite” of zincographs, and this week on the news that the museum had met its goal of acquiring 125 gifts for its 125th anniversary in 2008.

But on my recent visit there — too short — I had a chance to see first-hand, and was charmed by, a less splashy effort by the museum. Last year, the IMA was among the first of the museums to receive art from the “Fifty Works for 50 States” program started by legendary collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel. They are, of course, the one-time mail clerk and librarian who donated 1,000 works to the National Gallery of Art and then had so much more to give that they set up a program to spread the rest throughout the land — with 50 works going to one museum in each of the 50 states. 

I visited the Vogels last fall on an assignment for The Art Newspaper: They are exactly as billed. Soft-spoken, humble, the very opposite of many flamboyant contemporary art collectors, they really do have a rent-stabilized apartment on New York’s Upper East Side that is filled to the ceilings with art works and art books. I sat at their kitchen table (as they do, below) and could find no place to hang my coat, bag or umbrella.

vogelsredo.jpgThis was the situation after they had made their gifts!

Imagine what it was like before the trucks came to carry artworks away.    

Last December, the Indianapolis Museum became the the first to display all of its nifty 50 at once. And they look fine in a gallery of their own. Mostly works on paper, this collection includes pieces by Robert Mangold (below, Looped Line Torn Zone), Lynda Benglis, James Bishop, Elizabeth Murray, Edda Renouf and Richard Tuttle. They were made between the late 1960s and 2000.  

The IMA show runs through April 12. After that the works will be displayed throughout the collection. I’m not familiar enough with the IMA’s collection to make a judgment about how these works fit in and fill in, but Max Anderson, the director, certainly seemed pleased with these acquisitions.  

mangold.jpgAs for the Vogels, because of their health and age, they’ve slowed down — though they told me they are still collecting. And they love it when artist-friends drop by. In December, they made their first visit to Art Basel Miami Beach, where the documentary about them, “Herb & Dorothy,” was being shown. And as the IMA shows, what a great legacy they’ve created.   

Here’s a link to my article from The Art Newspaper, and here’s a link to the documentary website. There, you can find out where to see the award-winning show.

Photo Credits: (top) courtesy Fine Line Media; (bottom) courtesy Indianapolis Museum of Art.  

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About Judith H. Dobrzynski

Now an independent journalist, I've worked as a reporter in the culture and business sections of The New York Times, and been the editor of the Sunday business section and deputy business editor there as well as a senior editor of Business Week and the managing editor of CNBC, the cable TV

About Real Clear Arts

This blog is about culture in America as seen through my lens, which is informed and colored by years of reporting not only on the arts and humanities, but also on business, philanthropy, science, government and other subjects. I may break news, but more likely I will comment, provide

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