Response #1:7
Following watching the acclaimed documentary on the Vogel's and their collection of Contemporary Art, create a response that is structured around the following:
1. Highlight four items in the film that speaks about their collection thoroughly, and...
2. Compare and contrast to the collections we have seen at both The Joslyn Gage Foundation, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, The Hubbard Collection and Light Work. One comparative analysis of each, minimum.
Student Responses:
Recently in class, we learned that you don't have to be an arts organization to have an impressive art collection. Dorothy and Herb Vogel were once the largest art collectors of New York City. They started out as "wannabe artist" and ended up deciding that collecting was more for them. They have some really amazing work in their collection. Most of their collection is conceptual or minimalistic art. However, there are a few others, such as pop art, experimental work, street art, as these styles were coming of age during their time collecting. The Vogel’s bought their first piece of art together in 1962, it was a small metal sculpture done by John Chamberlin. After this purchase, the two of them seemed to come mesmerized in collecting and they continued to slowly expand their collection. The Vogel’s lived a very simple life and budgeted their spendings to be able to afford more and more artwork. They decided early on, they would live on Dorothy's salary as a librarian, and spend Herb's income on purchasing artwork. Artist James Siena stated that “They wanted to see everything" when having a one on one appointment directly with the artists in their studios. The couple bought directly from artists along with a few art-dealers.
Dorothy and Herb didn't just purchase art from artists, they also became their friends. The couple sought out to get a piece of work from Christo and Jean Claude. Unfortunately, the couple wasn't able to afford to purchase a piece from them as the work was already priced high in the art market. Christo and Jean Claude really appreciated the collectors and had a friendship with them, so they made another type of deal. Christo and Jean Claude traded them a drawing of Valley Curtain in exchange for the Vogel’s watching their cat.
Comparing the Vogel's collection to the ones I've experienced in our class, there are a lot of differences. The Joslyn Gage Foundation has a very historic collection. The collection is based on women and human rights and is on display for the public. The Vogel's collection is completely made up of conceptual artwork. However, they each display a huge part of the United States' culture, just in very different ways. Fortunately, the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park is not limited to the size of work they receive. As an outdoor sculptural park, they have accumulated some very large pieces including Third Iteration. The Vogel's were unfortunately limited to the size of their New York City apartment. They would fit large pieces in, but could never have any work that compares to some of the large pieces at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park.
The Cazenovia Public Library houses the Hubbard Collection. This consists of ancient artifacts, many taxidermy birds, art pieces, and other items that show off the town’s history as well as pieces collected around the world. The content of the collection varies compared to the Vogel’s.
Lastly, looking at Light Work Collection compared to the Vogel’s, I believe the greatest difference is how works are kept and organized. The Vogel’s collection did not have a database until it was given to the National Gallery in Washington DC. Their collection also was within their apartment, that they 'lived' alongside it. The Vogel's most likely didn’t have all of the right factors for excellent maintenance conditions, like climate, and humidity to preserve the work well. The Vogel's lived among numerous water aquariums for their collection of turtles and fish. Light Work has all of their photographs stored in a climate control room within archival boxes. When exhibited the works are housed in archival mats and frames. The photographic gallery/collection also digitally backs up their collection in a very thorough database.
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A Comparison of Collections
Recently in class, we learned that you don't have to be an arts organization to have an impressive art collection. Dorothy and Herb Vogel are the largest art collectors of New York City. They started out as "wannabe artist" and ended up deciding that collecting was more for them. They have some really amazing work in their collection. Most of their collection was conceptual or minimalistic art. However, there was also a rise of pop art, street art, and experimental art during their time collecting.
The Vogel’s bought their first piece of art together in 1962, it was done by John Chamberlin. After this purchase, they continued to slowly expand their collection. The Vogel’s lived a very simple life and budgeted their spendings to be able to afford more artwork. Artist James Siena stated that “They wanted to see everything”. The couple bought directly from artists along with art-dealers.
Dorothy and Herb didn't just purchase art from artists, they also became their friends. The couple sought out to get a piece of work from Christo and Jean Claude. Unfortunately, the couple wasn't able to afford to purchase a piece from them. Christo and Jean Claude really appreciated the collectors and had a friendship with them, so they made another deal. Christo and Jean Claude traded them Valley Curtainin exchange of the Vogel’s watching their cat.
Comparing the Vogel's collection to the owns I've experienced from this class, there are a lot of differences. The Joslyn Gage Foundation has a very historic collection. The collection is based on women and human rights and is on display for the public. The Vogel's collection is completely made up of artwork. However, they each display a huge part of the United States' culture, just in different ways.
Fortunately, the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park is not limited to the size of work they receive. As an outdoor sculptural part, they have accumulated some very large pieces including
Third Iteration. The Vogel's were unfortunately limited to the size of their New York City apartment. They would fit large pieces in, but could never have any work that compares to some of the large pieces at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park.
Cazenovia Public Library homes the Hubbard Collection. This consists of ancient artifacts, many taxidermy birds, art pieces, and other items that show off the town’s history. The content of the collection varies compared to the Vogel’s. However, I believe that the Hubbard Collection is smaller and more limiting than the Vogel’s to what pieces can become a part of the collection.
Lastly, looking at Light Work collections compared to the Vogel’s, I believe the greatest difference is how they are kept and organized. The Vogel’s collection did not have a database until it was given to the Nation Gallery in Washington DC. Their collection also was within their apartment, and most likely didn’t have all of the right factors, like climate, to preserve the work well. Lightwork has all of their pieces stored or showed in a climate control room, and they are all digitally backed up with a database.