GurlyIamBeach
Instant Favorite.
Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Brenda
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
madinpursuit
In an era when hoarders are seen as sideshow freaks, Herb and Dorothy Vogel are hoarders with heart... and a sharp aesthetic. Herb and Dorothy wanted to be artists. Instead, the postal worker and librarian filled their Brooklyn apartment with the best of American contemporary art, amassing nearly 5000 pieces, which they have now donated to the National Gallery. I like this documentary because it is a love story. Herb and Dorothy are an intimate team, who share a deep passion. They collect by "adopting" artists and supporting their work not only through purchases but through interest and enthusiasm. They give collectors a good name. They give humans a good name.
Mike B
This documentary reviews the eclectic life of an art collector couple in New York City. They're a wonderful couple who devote their spare time to collecting art. And as one of the trailers mentioned "you don't have to be Rockefeller to buy art". This couple is now retired and had normal jobs – she was a librarian and he worked for the post office – but no children. They loaded up their rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan with the art they loved. I can't say that I was enamoured by the art they accumulated – but everyone has their own tastes! They didn't do this for the money either; they donated their collection to the National Art Gallery in Washington which is free to the public. This is a truly life affirming film about real people with a passion for the art world.
Roland E. Zwick
Minimalism in art is clearly a matter of personal taste - one either loves it or loathes it, "gets" it or doesn't - but what cannot be debated is the influence Herbert and Dorothy Vogel have had on its cultivation over the past half century. Not as artists themselves, mind you - their own dabbling in it proved to be both unproductive and short-lived - but as the most famous patrons and backers of those who create the actual works.Though not wealthy themselves, Herb, a drab, colorless postal worker by day and an obsessive art maven by night, and his equally passionate wife Dorothy, have managed, over the course of five decades, to amass the world's greatest collection of minimalist and conceptual art - close to five thousand pieces in all. Almost from the day they first met in 1960, the two have been scouring the Manhattan art scene, constantly on the lookout for works to purchase and artists to champion.And speaking of minimalism, director Megumi Sasaki provides relatively few biographical details about the couple, preferring instead to concentrate on their work as collectors and the impact their intense passion and love for art have had on the scene. Sasaki relies primarily on interviews - with both the Vogels themselves and the artists whose lives and works they've influenced - to paint his portrait of the couple.As a film, "Herb and Dorothy" doesn't always make for the most riveting of viewing, seeing as much of the artwork they're fawning over is - let's be perfectly honest about it - more than a trifle preposterous. Indeed, you might even have trouble suppressing an irreverent giggle from time to time as you examine some of the pieces. But, as subjects for the camera, the Vogels convey such a down-home warm, generous and wise aura and presence that it's hard to be all that cynical about it.
druid333-2
To use the old Latin phrase (translation:art for art's sake). This is an open book look at two of the modern/postmodern art world's patron saints, Herb & Dorthy Vogel,who boasts of having the largest collection of modern art (all confined in a one bedroom apartment in New York City,yet). We get to know a bit about Herb & Dorthy (Herb is a retired postal worker,while Dorthy is a retired librarian),a couple who were wed in 1960,and spent most,if not all of their spare time in small galleries,perusing works by up & coming artists & purchasing works that they knew would fit in their modest trappings (an amusing scene shows Herb & Dorthy mulling over a Sol LeWitt piece that was just a bit too tall for their apartment,resulting in their exchanging it for something a bit more compact by LeWitt). Over a period of thirty years (or so),they would amass thousands of paintings,sculptures & conceptual pieces,representing the cream of the art world (or so they figured). First time producer/director,Megumi Sasaki crafts a portrait of two people,in love with each other & art (they're rarely apart from one another for too long---a scene at an artists opening depicts a somewhat jealous Dorthy getting her dander up when she finds Herb talking to a woman across the room from her). The documentary is studded with interviews with what has to be a "who's who" of modern art (Robert Barry,Pat Stier,Richard Tuttle,Christo & Jeanne-Claude,Sol LeWitt,etc.),as well as vintage film footage of the New York art scene in the 1950's,thru the 1970's & beyond. A "must see" for patrons of the arts. Not rated,but contains nothing to offend.
