Over fifty years ago, an unassuming New York couple, she a librarian, he a postal worker, began collecting art. They acquired things that they liked and could afford on their modest salaries, making prescient choices together about drawings, paintings, prints, sculptures, and photographs by artists that were, at the time, relatively unknown. Since then, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel’s collection has grown into an important collection of over 4,000 works by major artists from the 1960s to the present. Working with the National Gallery of Art, the Vogels decided to share their collection with the nation, choosing one institution in every state to receive a gift of fifty works each. The New Orleans Museum of Art is proud to be the Vogels’ choice for the state of Louisiana and to present this exhibition, comprised solely of works from their gifts.

This exhibition includes works in a variety of media- sculptures, prints, paintings, and photographic collages- but the Vogels were especially interested in drawings of all kinds, from preparatory sketches and designs for sculptures to discrete finished works. As one of the most visceral and direct forms of picture-making, drawings can reveal the genesis of an artistic concept or bring us close to the artist’s hand; as Dorothy Vogel once put it, “drawing is a very personal art form. . . the ideas are all there.” The act of drawing, of making a mark on a surface, is also a way of leaving some stamps on history’s timeline. It is, therefore, especially fitting that the Vogels have focused on drawings in their collection, for the generous distribution of their collection has itself made a mark on the national artistic landscape.

This exhibition is generously supported by the New Video.

Sponsors / Partners

This exhibition is generously supported by the New Video.