Louis Vogt

(1864-1939)

There is a deadening quality to the word “vague.” But as the reader, consider how you would feel if a catalogue biography from a major museum summarized your life with: “He is supposed to have studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati; He apparently traveled throughout the world; He is said to have fought in Manila the Philippines and China.”1 In fact, the only fact given was that he was born in Cincinnati. In the early 1970s, I saw a color image in a Chapellier catalogue of a painting by Louis Vogt of the construction of the Queensboro Bridge. It was full of vibrant color, figures in hard hats and heavy construction equipment. So, there is an additional fact to add to a very thin biography: Louis Vogt did visit New York. When I saw this smaller piece of digging the foundation for the Queensboro Bridge, it seemed to fit nicely. However, I don’t recall where I acquired it or when I acquired it. Perhaps “vagueness” is contagious.