The Montclair Art Museum is inviting local artists to sell their work at the museum on Sunday, October 24, in Collecting Art: An Affordable Art Fair.
Intended to encourage art collectors to buy local work — even if they are on a tight budget — museum spokesperson Raechel Lutz points out that the featured art will range from $50- $500. The idea is to offer an outlet for the sale of artworks made by local and emerging artists while also promoting the affordable collecting of contemporary art. “You shouldn’t have to be wealthy to buy art,” Lutz explained, using the example of Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, whose budget-amassed collection and the story behind it will be on display at MAM starting next month.
Living for Art: The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, which runs from September 24, 2010 to January 2, 2011, is really an art collector’s love story. The exhibit displays some of the work collected by the quintessential budget art collecting couple and tells the story behind their acquisitions. The couple accumulated around 4,000 pieces of contemporary American art in a 30 year span, living off Dorothy’s income as a reference librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library while using Herbert’s postal service salary to purchase art.
As their tiny one bedroom Manhattan apartment filled to the brim with works, the couple became legendary in the art world. Many artists were aware of the Vogels’ limited funds and expressed their appreciation by inscribing their works to the Vogels with great affection. They are also the subject of Herb & Dorothy, an award-winning film by Megumi Sasaki which will be part of the exhibit. In the director’s words, it is a film “about the power of passion and love, and a celebration of life.”
The Vogels — now in their 70s and 80s — are currently bequeathing works from their collection to art institutions across the country. After donating much of their collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, over the last two decades, they wanted to share their collection with more of the United States — which led to the innovative Fifty Works for Fifty States initiative. Through this program, the Vogels are giving 2,500 works by 177 artists to 50 museums throughout the country — one in each state. According to Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery which is a partner in the initiative, the Vogels expect that “their gifts will significantly enhance the representation of contemporary art in all regions of the country.”
So, with a nod to collecting contemporary art on a budget, the Montclair Art Museum hopes folks will come out and buy works of area artists on October 24. To further save patrons money, presumably to leave more for purchasing art, MAM will offer free admission to the Museum galleries throughout that day. Who knows, maybe the next Vogel collection is developing out there in Baristaville. Here’s some advice from the Vogels to inspire the spirit of collecting in others:
If you’re rich, it’s easy to start a collection. But if you need your paycheck to pay the rent and phone bill, and you want to collect, you’ve got to depend on instinct. What you feel in your head and heart. Wits and guts. –Herbert Vogel, 1992
I think knowing the artists adds another dimension because you get to really know the work a lot better. You understand it better, and you see things through their eyes.
–Dorothy Vogel, 1994
The Montclair Art Museum is now accepting applications from regional artists who would like to participate in the juried fair. Download the application here, and submit by the September 15 deadline. MAM’s juried panel will select 20 artists from the pool of applicants.
