Sunday

TWO CUTE


If I were to throw my $.02 in to the Wonders of the World list, my number 8 would hands down be Herb and Dorothy's art collection. The Vogels have something like 4,000 works of conceptual and minimalist art crammed into their tiny 1-bedroom Manhattan rent-controlled. Considering their modest income (hardly the foundation of a museum-worthy collection) it's quite miraculous that the couple got their hands on works by Picasso, Chuck Close, Marcel Duchamp, Jeff Koons and Frank Stella just to name five out of the thousands.

The Vogels are now subjects of an award-winning documentary directed by Megumi Sasaki. Herb and Dorothy is super charming, its main stars becoming the poster children for classist escapism and unforgiving ambition. They have tons of pet cats and turtles and wittily tell stories the way your grandparents do, except theirs are about mid-century art-world fabulousness. Sacrificing space for art, they have covered every square inch of their apartment with a collection worth hundreds of thousands of moolah. The coolest part is their refusal to sell even a single piece, instead choosing to donate everything to the National Gallery in DC.

There is a limited run at Cinema Village so get there soon. Cute old-people, cats, funny stories and killer art awaits.