An exhibition announcement designed by Larry Rivers was published in conjunction with the Dwan Gallery show, "Rivers Small Recent Work" which opened on November 16, 1965. The poster is folded in four as issued. Dimensions 44.3 x 50.8 cm Virginia Dwan conducted and operated galleries in Los Angeles (1959-1967) and in New York (1965-1971). Born in 1931 and heir to the Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing fortune (now 3M), Dwan first worked for the art dealer and gallerist Frank Perls in Beverly Hills. In 1959 she opened a gallery at 1091 Broxton Avenue in Westwood Village in Los Angeles. At first, she exhibited the work of abstract expressionists from New York. After traveling to France and discovering the art of the nouveaux réalistes, she also promoted their work in solo and group shows. She introduced Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, and Yves Klein to Los Angeles. In June 1962, Dwan opened a new and expanded space at 10846 Lindbrook Drive, also in Westwood Village, which was designed by Morris Verger, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was inaugurated with an exhibition on the French assemblage artist Arman, one of the founders of nouveau réalisme. Two months later, the show, My Country 'Tis of Thee featured works by Andy Warhol, Marisol, and Claes Oldenburg. During this period, Dwan also promoted the artists Edward Kienholz, Niki de Saint Phalle, Mark di Suvero, and James Rosenquist. Dwan, who was independently wealthy, was known for her generosity. She maintained close relationships with many of the artists she exhibited, often granting them large stipends or inviting them to her home in Malibu. She was not interested in achieving financial success as an art dealer or gallerist and could take risks in the artists she chose to work with. In 1965, Dwan moved to New York and founded the east coast branch of her gallery at 29 West 57th Street. When she closed her Los Angeles space, its director, John Weber, joined her in New York where the gallery commissioned and exhibited post-minimalist, earthwork and conceptual artists such as Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, and Dennis Oppenheim. Virginia Dwan's New York gallery is often credited as the first to exhibit an earthworks show in 1968, as well as underwriting projects and serving as the movement's headquarters. Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty was partially financed by the gallery in 1970. After closing the gallery in 1971, Dwan produced films with and about artists, and later donated her art collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
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