A postal clerk with an eye for modern art, Herbert Vogel, has died at 89. He amassed a remarkable collection of art---5,000 pieces in all---with his wife Dorothy, a librarian.

The couple left their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and to institutions in 50 states.

The Vogels bought what they liked and could acquire on their dual civil-servants' incomes. A twisted metal piece by John Chamberlain was their first purchase in 1962.

Crammed into a tiny, rent-controlled in Manhattan, the collection grew over the decades to contain artists who would later become famous, or those who were friends of the couple.

Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, Richard Tuttle and Donald Judd, were included early on, and later, artists such as Andy Goldsworthy completed their collection.