A Gutsy Heiress with an Eye for Hidden Genius Finally Gets the Recognition She Deserves
When Virginia Dwan, an heir to the 3M fortune, received her inheritance in 1952, she was 21 years old and had little experience in the art world. But over the next two decades she used her money to bet on some of the most untested and unsalable artists of the 20th century, figures who, thanks in part to her support, became icons, leaders of minimalism, conceptual art, and land art.
Dwan opened the first of two Los Angeles galleries in 1959. A few years later she debuted a space in New York as well. Her exhibitions were electric and experimental affairs that drew both curious and, soon enough, serious collectors. By 1971 she had closed her galleries, opting instead to fund projects like Spiral Jetty (1970), a monumental piece of land art in Utah's Great Salt Lake by Robert Smithson, whom Dwan championed for years.
That work, like many others, wouldn't exist without her patronage, says James Meyer, who organized "Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959–1971," which opens at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, on September 30. The show features some 100 pieces, including many gems from Dwan's extraordinary personal collection-Ed Kienholz, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin-which she has promised to leave to the National Gallery. Not to be missed are portraits by Kienholz, Larry Rivers, and Jean Tinguely of their beloved dealer.
Dwan, who is 84 now and splits her time between New York and Santa Fe, was a maverick from the start, flying artists around the world and supporting their visions. "She has always stood apart," says Meyer. "It's just her instinct."
