Last night I had the opportunity to meet Herb and Dorothy Vogel, two giants in the world of modern art, despite their less than 5 foot stature. Their story has been documented in a new film appropriately titled Herb & Dorothy - which premiered last night at a local theater in my town (The Avon in Stamford) – followed by Q & A with Herb, Dorothy and the film director.

Honestly, I had never heard of them until 24 hours ago, when I happened to come across a promotional piece on this debut, and thought it might be worth a view.  Their story is impressive – Herb is a retired New York City postal worker who sorted mail by night, slept in the morning and studied art and took drawing/painting classes in the afternoon.  Dorothy was a librarian in Brooklyn Heights.  They spent most of their spare time frequenting galleries, going to art openings and cultivating relationships with artists.  They have spent their whole married lives in a one bedroom rent controlled apartment, living entirely on Dorothy’s salary, and spending Herb’s salary on art.  Their only criterion for buying – they had to be able to afford it, and it had to fit in their apartment.

So started their passion with collecting contemporary art – a passion that established close relationships with the artists over the years.  Over the past three decades they have been renowned figures in the art community, and were even recently featured alongside the Rockefellers, Rothschilds and Gettys in a new book called  Great Collectors of our Time by James Stourton.

Their overall collection is comprised of 4,000 pieces, and in 1992 when they decided to donate their then 2,500 piece collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, it took three months and 5 full moving size trucks to remove the collection from their tiny apartment.  What you see in this picture – Herb and Dorothy sitting at a small table – was virtually the only furniture in their apartment besides their bed – which over the years rose higher and higher as more art was placed underneath it.

Their collection is obviously priceless – worth millions – but they did not want or expect any compensation for their collection.  Their needs are obviously minimal; their only vice – an insanely intense art addiction.

If you get a chance to see this, I recommend it.  It truly is a one of a kind story.