It's amazing what the Vogel's were able to do with a complete devotion to collecting art. They bought it from artists who were not yet famous so they were able to get many of them for under 50 dollars. They have no fancy cars, penthouse apt. or yachts which they could easily have had if they had sold their monumental collection to the highest bidder. Instead they give it away to the National Gallery because they like the idea that the gallery will not ever sell one of them and that they public will have access to it.

The whole point of their life is shared passion and selflessness in the devotion to a cause; in this case art that they felt had value. They were proven right a thousand times over.

Many people seem to think if they don't like something, it should have no value to anyone else. I would like to go through some people's record collections and point out the "bad taste" of some of their recordings. I would be wrong and the person who loves the music would be right. It has value inasmuch as it speaks to the individual's asthetic sense. One of the artists said that Herbie Vogel's sense was one in which there was no buffer between his eyes and his soul. Most people walk through life blind to anything but the easily understood. Others find value and beauty in the challenging. I hope to always be in the latter group.