Oral history interview with Virginia Dwan, 2014

Biographical Note

Virginia Dwan was born in Minneapolis, MN, an heiress to the corporation 3M. An art collector, patron and philanthropist, she is the former owner and executive director of Dwan Gallery Los Angeles and Dwan Gallery New York, and founder of the Dwan Light Sanctuary in Montezuma, New Mexico. Dwan presented Rauschenberg's first solo exhibition in California in 1962 featuring the artist's Combines (1954-64). She organized a second monographic display in 1965

Scope and Contents

Virginia Dwan, art collector and gallery owner, discusses opening her first gallery, which led her to New York City to make acquaintances of artists and to find people to show. She recalls meeting Rauschenberg and his trip out to California with a group of artists. She also speaks about how much of Rauschenberg's work was unsalable. She describes her relationship with Rauschenberg as a gallery owner showing his work but also as a friend and artistic influence in her life. She talks about opening her second space in Los Angeles, where Rauschenberg had a 1965 show of transfer drawings. She discusses specific Rauschenberg works and details efforts to sell them to different collectors. She also talks about opening her New York gallery in 1965 and a shift to being associated with minimalism, conceptual art, and later Earthworks (or Landart)

Subjects

• Art--Collectors and collecting.
• Art--Marketing.
• Conceptual art--United States.
• Dwan, Virginia--Interviews.
• Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)
• Dwan Gallery (New York, N.Y.)
• Earthworks (Art)--20th century--United States.
• Interviews.
• Minimalism (Art)--20th century--United States.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Sinclair, Sara, interviewer.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2014