by kiki

Herb and Dorothy are examples of generosity, and through them we learn how much generosity we have in our own hearts.  The Vogels remind us of the potential we all possess, if we all just opened up and allowed it.

Today, on our Kickstarter site, an incredibly generous backer and heartfelt supporter posted the following comment:

“Hi fellow backers – I have an idea! With just 15 days to go, let’s all work together to ensure this wonderful film becomes a reality. If we all double our donations — which, for many of us, means moving from $10 to $20 or $50 to $100 — Megumi will meet and surpass her goal. C’mon, let’s do this thing! It’s a small, individual step to make a major, collective difference. With love & blessings…”

We were so moved by this gesture, and reminded once again that it all begins with our own will.

Thank you for your suggestions and concerns, dear backers, and for your passion toward our project.

Let’s do this together!  We’re so blessed to be in this with you.

by kiki

Hi there!  Today, we’re introducing Charles Clough, a featured artist in HERB & DOROTHY 50×50, follow-up film to HERB & DOROTHY.   (Yes, the one we’re campaigning for.)

If you haven’t seen it yet, you can add this beautiful 8″ x 11″ Limited Edition inkjet print to your art collection, printed & signed by the artist.  (See our rewards for details!)

In a world where the value of art fluctuates wildly and life as an artist is anything but steady, Clough has expressed Herb and Dorothy as parent figures who have allowed him to continue his work as an artist.  The warmth in their relationship can be seen in the video below, a behind-the-scenes look inside Clough’s studio.  Over the years, Herb and Dorothy have acquired over 600 of his works, displaying them all over their apartment until donating them to museums.

Herb and Dorothy, as those who have seen the first film may know, used to be artists themselves.  Dorothy says in the film, “Mine was hard edged and his (Herb) were expressionist. And that’s how we began our early, married life, not as collectors but as wannabe-artists. “

Though they began their early married life as artists, Dorothy says, “We started to buy art works slowly and we started to take down our works down from the wall, started putting other artists’ works up.   One day we looked around and saw we had a little grouping of other artists’ works and we thought they were better than we were, so we gave it up. “

To Herb and Dorothy, good art is good art, and “name value” is a non-issue.  In HERB & DOROTHY 50×50, Director Megumi Sasaki shines a light on the artists in the Vogel Collection who captured the attention of Herb and Dorothy for that “something special”, not for their fame.

You can see Clough’s works from the Vogel Collection, here.   We do hope you have a chance to view these pieces in person.

Thank you, as always for your support!  We’ll see you back here tomorrow.

by kiki

There is no “categorizing” a film such as HERB & DOROTHY, but what was it about the story tugged at your heartstrings most?

For you, was this a story about art collecting?  A glimpse into artists’ lives and creations?  A documentation of American art history?  A love story?

Last week, I sat down for a long interview with Megumi (that I cannot wait to share with you!) where she described in intimate detail her relationship with Herb and Dorothy, and her secrets of telling this beautiful story.

Keep your eyes and ears open for our release of the interview – it will be posted on a separate magazine site, but I’ll share right here on this blog all the little bits and pieces that had to be cut…only because our discussion was so long.

Thank you for being with us through our campaign.  We’re currently at $25,296 with just 24 days to go.  That’s still not 50%, and we admit we’re getting a bit nervous here at HERB & DOROTHY Headquarters.  But we believe in Herb and Dorothy’s message, and we know we can do this with all of you.

Megumi leaves for Italy tomorrow, to attend the ArteCinema Festival over the weekend.  She hopes to meet Italian fans of HERB & DOROTHY, so if you’re “in the area”, please stop by to say hello!

I leave you today with quotes from Herb and Dorothy.

Dorothy:

We formed the collection together. And I have to admit that my husband has the knowledge and he was the driving force behind the collection.

Herb:

I honestly do not think that I could have built the collection without Dorothy. She’s an essential part of the collection, an enormous simulation for doing this.

I see a love story…

by kiki

Today, I was reading a 1979 feature in ARTnews – the most widely read art magazine in the world – and came across these words by Herb and Dorothy that I thought I might share.

We all want to know how they built the collection they did.  But to Herb and Dorothy, there never was any question.

Herb:

“If I like the artist, if I like the work, I buy – I can’t be more specific.  I can’t intellectualize it.  Our collection is about information.  The role of art is to help us find our way in our own time.

If you need your paycheck to pay the rent and the phone bill and you want to collect, you got to depend on your instinct, what you feel here (head) and what you feel here (stomach).

Wits and guts.”

And Dorothy:

“We learned a lot about art by studying everything that was going on.  We both realized we’d be better at collecting than painting.”

(ARTnews March 1979)

Information is abundant these days, I just wonder if we’re taking the time to appreciate any of it.  From these few sentences, one can tell that Herb and Dorothy did not just become world-class art collectors by chance.

What it takes is…“wits and guts”.  (Yes, I do understand how much easier it is said than done.)

Thanks for stopping by the Herb & Dorothy blog, and to those who keep going back to our Kickstarter page to see what the numbers say, thank you.

We’re only able to do this with your generous support.

Have a beautiful weekend, everyone!