Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Donald S. Vogel
Greenhouse

1994

About the Item

Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Vogel entreats us to "rejoice and celebrate each new day, knowing it is a gift in itself, and produce something of worth to be shared. That is the life that has served this artist's pilgrimage." Donald S. Vogel has been a set designer and technical director in the theater, a fine art dealer, and a writer, but first and foremost he is a painter. From a young age he was intrigued by the possibilities of creating images. The excitement and pleasure derived from the act of creation continued to be the force that compelled him to paint throughout his life. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Donald S. Vogel began his formal art training at the Witte Memorial Museum in San Antonio when he was seventeen. His training, under the watchful eye of Eleanor Onderdonk, was briefly interrupted by a move to Washington, DC , where he took drawing classes at The Corcoran School of Art . He returned to San Antonio to finish high school and continued studying under Onderdonk. After graduation, he moved to Chicago in 1936 to enroll in The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist rooms of the Institute, a new world opened up to him, one that would forever influence the direction of his work. He saw art that dealt with the effects of atmosphere and light. The subjects and techniques used by these painters conveyed a sense of happiness, exuberance, and pleasure, which offered a stark contrast to the world outside stifled by the Great Depression. While studying at the Art Institute, Vogel roomed at the Artist Community House where many students lived. This environment served as a counterpoint to the academic training he received at the Institute. It afforded the students the freedom to discuss issues in contemporary art, and freely experiment with unconventional ideas and techniques. Most importantly, this fertile environment intensified Vogel's commitment to paint. Feeling the pinch of the Depression, Vogel left the Art Institute in 1940, and was accepted on the WPA Easel Project. This allowed him the luxury of drawing and painting from dawn to dusk. The freedom to paint at all hours focused his interest on the seemingly endless variations of light and atmosphere. With unlimited use of a model, he produced thousands of figure drawings until, eventually freed from the necessity of working from life, he began to paint purely from his imagination. In 1942, Vogel moved to Dallas. The previous year, while he was still living in Chicago, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts had given Vogel a one-person show; in 1943, shortly after his arrival in Dallas, the DMFA gave him another. While working first as a set designer and then as technical director at the Dallas Little Theater, Vogel spent his free time at the easel. During the 1940's he gained recognition in the art community by promoting the work of fellow artists and winning coveted purchase awards and prizes in the Texas General and Allied Arts Exhibitions for his own paintings. In 1951, Vogel and his wife Peggy, alongside Dallas arts patron Betty McLean, opened the Betty McLean Gallery. It was the first gallery in Texas to deal in modern art on an international level. In 1954, the Vogels moved to a five-acre site north of Dallas and opened Valley House Gallery. The new setting at Valley House deeply inspired Vogel, serving as a source for ideas, and providing a place of serenity and contemplation. Vogel's work is characterized by his love of color, and his fascination with the changing qualities of light. A favorite subject, often revisited during the latter part of his career, is the greenhouse. He first experimented with this subject in 1976, and began using it in earnest in 1978. Having worked in a hothouse during his youth, he found it a natural subject for exploring the effects of atmosphere, light, and color. Like Monet's pond at Giverny, Vogel's greenhouses have become his signature: an imaginary place of endless fascination. Vogel produced many catalogues for gallery artists but he had never written for himself. In 1989, he penned two autobiographical short stories and published them under the title Charcoal and Cadmium Red. He found writing to be as challenging a process as painting. During his eighth decade, he wrote and painted with equal intensity. Donald S. Vogel's work is included in the following collections: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Beaumont Museum of Fine Art, Beaumont, Texas Charles Goddard Center, Ardmore, Oklahoma Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas Fine Arts Museum of the South, Mobile, Alabama Ft. Worth Art Association, Ft. Worth, Texas Old Jail Foundation, Albany, Texas Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma The Pennsylvania Trust, Radnor, Pennsylvania Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas

More From This Seller

View All
Impression
By Donald S. Vogel
Located in Dallas, TX
Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Vogel entreats us to "rejoice and celebrate each new day, knowing it...
Category

Late 20th Century American Impressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Many Colored Flowers
By Donald S. Vogel
Located in Dallas, TX
Donald S. Vogel has been a set designer and technical director in the theater, a fine art dealer, and a writer, but first and foremost he is a painter. From a young age he was intrig...
Category

20th Century American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Shaded Path
By Donald S. Vogel
Located in Dallas, TX
Donald Vogel was inspired by gardens throughout his painting career. Before moving to Dallas, as a student at the Art Institute of Chicago in the late 1930's, Vogel's studio was a block away from Chicago's Lincoln Park...
Category

1980s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Greenhouse Yellows
By Donald S. Vogel
Located in Dallas, TX
Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Vogel entreats us to "rejoice and celebrate each new day, knowing it...
Category

Late 20th Century American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Greenhouse Shadows
By Donald S. Vogel
Located in Dallas, TX
Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Vogel entreats us to "rejoice and celebrate each new day, knowing it...
Category

1990s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Cool Light, Greenhouse
By Donald S. Vogel
Located in Dallas, TX
The greenhouse became a favorite subject of Donald Vogel's in the 1980's. As Vogel reflected in the 1998 catalogue published for his traveling retrospective exhibition, "The greenhou...
Category

1980s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

You May Also Like

"Little Aliens" Oil Painting Colorful Toys
By Calvin Lai
Located in Denver, CO
Calvin Lai's (US based) "Aliens" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a still life of a pair of blue and purple toys of aliens. Artist Biography: Calvin Lai's art is...
Category

2010s American Impressionist Still-life Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Oil

"Ninja!" Oil Painting
By Calvin Lai
Located in Denver, CO
Calvin Lai's (US based) "Ninja!" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a still life of a miniature wooden mannequin, a ninja toy, and a blond haired girl figurine in sit...
Category

2010s American Impressionist Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

"Predator and Prey" Oil Painting
By Calvin Lai
Located in Denver, CO
Calvin Lai's (US based) "Predator and Prey" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a still life of bear shaped honey containers advancing t...
Category

2010s American Impressionist Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

"The Beach at Saint-Malo" oil painting at historic French Port, blue sky and sea
By Marc Dalessio
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"The Beach at Saint-Malo" is a plein air painting depicting a Brittany, France. A historic port-city along the English Channel, Saint Malo was designed with Gothic and Romanesque str...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"Star Magnolia, East Hampton" oil painting blossoming flora tree in The Hamptons
By Marc Dalessio
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Star Magnolia, East Hampton" is a plein air painting created in the Village of East Hampton NY. The historic windmill is seen in the distance, but the true focal point of this paint...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"The Beach at Stoupa" oil painting, White umbrellas in Greece, Mediterranean Sea
By Marc Dalessio
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"The Beach at Stoupa" is a plein air painting depicting a popular beach in Stoupa, Greece. Stoupa (Greek: Στούπα) is a village on the coast of the southern Peloponnese peninsula in G...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Recently Viewed

View All