Jan Weiner’s health has forced her gallery in Kansas City to close. The Kansas City Star offers a look back on her art selling career:
For almost three decades, Weiner’s fastidiously maintained bungalow in the West Plaza was the place to see work by Kansas City Art Institute faculty like Warren Rosser and Michael Walling, regionally based talents such as Roger Shimomura and Eddie Dominguez, and big New York names including Lynda Benglis and Louise Bourgeois.
Jerry Skinner, Weiner’s longtime companion, had a ringside seat on the venture. “For a little private gallery, if you look back at average sales, it was several million dollars over the last 25 years,” he said in a recent interview.
This past fall, health problems forced Weiner to retire to Skinner’s residence in Topeka and suspend the Jan Weiner gallery operation in Kansas City.
Local collector John Hastings added these observations:
“She was a sexy broad and a haute bourgeois matron all at once,” he added. “I purchased several pieces from her as well — David Levinthal cowboy photos are my very favorite. Jan’s big money years were the ’80s. She was the perfect dealer for that particular era of excess.”
Weiner always knew what she wanted and went after it, working with New York dealers to procure works by Andres Serrano, Elizabeth Murray and other big names. Over the years she developed a reputation for a keen eye, exhibiting pieces by Gary Simmons, Ken Price and Fabian Marcaccio.
Weiner Gallery Closing Brings End to an Era (Kansas City Star)