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The Collecting Impulse: Fifty Works from Dorothy and Herbert Vogel

Exhibitions
PAST EXHIBITION

The Collecting Impulse: Fifty Works from Dorothy and Herbert Vogel

OPENS
June 10, 2012
CLOSES
August 12, 2012
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About the Exhibit

June 10, 2012 – August 12, 2012

Richard Tuttle
Dallas (9 pencil lines), 1970
Watercolor and graphite on paper
10 13/16 x 8 5/16 inches

The Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin was selected by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C and Dorothy and Herbert Vogel as the only museum in Texas to receive works from The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, a national gift program distributing 2,500 works from the Vogel’s collection of contemporary art throughout the nation.

Long-time collectors, the Vogels personally selected each museum with the help of the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This important collection features minimal and conceptual artworks from over 170 contemporary artists. Of these, The Blanton received 50 works from artists such as Stephen Antonakos, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Elizabeth Murray, and Richard Tuttle, among others, all of which will be exhibited in The Collecting Impulse, opening June 10, alongside The Human Touch, an exhibition of works from the RBC Wealth Management Collection.

The Vogels have a long history with The Blanton, showing a portion of their collection in 1997 at what was then the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery. The exhibition, titled From Minimal to Conceptual Art: Works from The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, featured art from the mid- to late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Collecting Impulse chronicles over 30 years of the New York Art scene, with fine examples from many leading minimalist and conceptualist artists, but it also tells the story of the Vogels as collectors — examining the couple’s love affair with art and artists that led to the acquisition of over 4,000 works. The Blanton’s concurrent presentation of The Human Touch provides a counterpart to the exhibition, examining how a corporate collection is assembled.

Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have spent the last five decades building their collection. Herbert, a retired United States Postal Service employee, and Dorothy, a retired librarian, are patrons with modest means. Placing highest priority on their collecting activities, the couple lived off Dorothy’s salary, while using Herbert’s to buy contemporary art. The Vogel Collection is unique, with no other private collection of similar work in Europe or America rivaling the range, complexity and quality of art the Vogels have acquired.

An interactive website, www.vogel50x50.org, complements the exhibition, and a screening of the acclaimed documentary, “Herb & Dorothy,” will take place on Thursday, July 19 at 6 PM.

The Collecting Impulse: Fifty Works from Dorothy and Herbert Vogel is organized by the Blanton Museum of Art.

Fifty Works for Fifty States is a joint Initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art with generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Image: Blanton Museum of Art, The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, a joint Initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art, with generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services

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