In 1959, Virginia Dwan opened her first gallery in the Westwood Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1965, Virginia Dwan moved to New York City and founded an east coast branch of the Dwan Gallery.

Exhibitions at the Dwan Gallery showed Abstract Expressionist artists, Nouveaux Realistes artists, Land, and Minimilist artists. Dwan recognized that many of her shows were not considered salable but continued to show the avant-garde. The Dwan Gallery Los Angeles closed in mid-1967 but the New York branch remained open until 1971.