The Robert & Ruth Vogele Collection, 25 April 2019 < Auctions

Auction / 25 April 2019 Noon ct

Avid collectors of fine art, folk art, and modern design, Robert and Ruth Vogele amassed an impressive selection of works throughout their sixty-plus years of marriage. More than patrons, the Vogeles believed in establishing personal relationships with artists to better understand the artwork and inform their collecting. Robert said “art enriches life” and this April, Wright is pleased to present a selection of works that do just that.

The Robert and Ruth Vogele Collection will take place on April 25 at 12 pm central. Wright will host an evening reception on Tuesday, April 23rd, 5–7 pm.

Michael Goldberg Untitled $300,000

Selections from the Collection

George Rickey

Tetrahedron Down II

estimate: $15,000–20,000

result $35,000

Robert Motherwell

Barcelona Elegy to the Spanish Republic

estimate: $5,000–7,000

result $11,250

Lynda Benglis

Blue Pair

estimate: $7,000–9,000

result $175,000

Harry Bertoia

Untitled (Bush Form)

estimate: $70,000–90,000

result $112,500

John Henry

Maciachini Model 2

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result $11,875

Chuck Close

Self Portrait/Lincoln Center

estimate: $5,000–7,000

result $5,625

Ibibio artist

Idiok Ekpo mask

estimate: $2,000–3,000

result $1,250

Lyman Kipp

Oxtail

estimate: $1,000–1,500

result $2,125

Herbert Bayer

Yellow Mirage

estimate: $4,000–6,000

result $4,063

Michael Goldberg

Untitled

estimate: $20,000–30,000

result $42,500

Peter Voulkos

Untitled Plate

estimate: $5,000–7,000

result $11,875

Adolph Gottlieb

Untitled (Burst)

estimate: $2,000–3,000

result $2,750

Harry Bertoia

Untitled (Monotype)

estimate: $2,000–3,000

result $2,375

Betty Parsons

Mantelope

estimate: $1,000–1,500

result $6,875

Sam Francis

Firewood

estimate: $1,500–2,000

result $3,750

Robert Adams

Untitled (Screen Form)

estimate: $10,000–15,000

result $17,500

The very act of living requires creative decisions everyday. How we design our lives…our personal vision…sets in motion a series of events ever-unfolding, ever-challenging, ever-changing. To design a life is to find what you believe in, what you aspire to be and what you want your legacy to be. It is proactive acts we intentionally use to define ourselves in relationships to others. A life in Design.

Robert Vogele

David Smith Untitled $62,500

Living with Art

“Ruth and I have developed a passion for meeting artists, collecting their art and living with art since we were first married in 1952. Knowing the artist makes every work of art more special. This has been true whether it is contemporary prints, paintings or sculpture, Southwestern pottery and weavings, or self-taught folk art. We also have enjoyed sharing our collection with others, whether it be through an exhibition or a gift to museums or college art collections.”

Whether it was in their home in Western Springs, the loft on Printers Row, a sprawling desert oasis in Phoenix or in the offices of RVI, the Vogeles surrounded themselves with the things that that they loved.

Arnaldo Pomodoro Rhomboid $16,250

Eduardo Chillida Design for Poster $35,000

A Life in Design

Vogele (right) as the co-art directory of the University of Illinois yearbook, 1949-50

Throughout his fifty years as a designer, Robert Vogele founded two of Chicago’s most significant design consultancies and one of the largest firms in the nation. Born in 1928, Vogele exhibited a natural talent for drawing early on. At the University of Illinois, he flourished, securing degrees in communications, fine art and business while working as assistant art director for the press department. Upon completing his military service in 1956, Vogele accepted a position as the director of graphics, packaging and corporate identity at Lathan, Tyler and Jensen—a firm that grew out of Raymond Loewey’s Chicago office when it closed in 1954. Dick Lathan, Vogele’s mentor at LTJ, stressed innovation and taught the importance of a unified visual identity, a concept that would become the cornerstone of Vogele’s burgeoning career.