"Herb & Dorothy", a film worth watching

This documentary from 2008 was watched last night, and it was charming.  At times it is wondered whether other people with my background, proclivities, and interests have already seen films, read books, heard music, and discovered television programs that are only found here belatedly.  My relative isolation at times is wearing.  Yet, like last night, it is so rewarding to find something completely unexpected.

For those not familiar, or in my shoes until yesterday, Herb and Dorothy Vogel were art collectors who accumulated a collection of modern art of the minimalist and conceptual variety that was astonishing.  That he was a night time post office mail sorter and she was a librarian did not deter them from their life long shared interest in collecting work done by artists that they often found in the early stages of their productivity.  The Vogels lived in a one bedroom upper east side Manhattan rent stabilized apartment that was eventually somehow stuffed with thousands of paintings and other iterations of art.  They were hoarders with a distinct purpose and an interest.  Narrow pathways were the only open space in their living areas.

They eventually donated the majority of their collection to the National Museum in Washington, as well as giving portions to smaller museums in all 50 states.  The film was pleasant to watch.  The interaction between the Vogels and various artists was interesting.  Their relationship with each other was enviable, and even at times reminiscent.  Their dedication to art without any motivation for profit could only be from another era, but it was not.