William Griffin established the gallery in Los Angeles in 1997.
 
In less than ten years the gallery has experienced extraordinary growth and is today one of the largest spaces in the western United States. It has developed a reputation for conceptually rigorous and innovative programming.

William Griffin Gallery has featured important solo exhibitions by James Turrell, Richard Long, Robert Rauschenberg, David Lynch, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, Keith Sonnier, Peter Wegner, Greg Colson, and Liza Ryan, among others.  It has also presented seminal group exhibitions such as "Early California Minimalism," a survey of significant early works by Robert Irwin, John McCracken, Craig Kauffman, and others.  

The gallery has formed a strong network across many platforms of the visual arts, from the commercial to the scholarly. Its international outreach, close relationships, and established reputation have allowed it to facilitate important artist projects in leading museums, foundations, universities, and galleries around the world.  It has helped realize major public art projects with artists such as James Turrell, Ai Weiwei, and Richard Long. In addition, the gallery has both independently produced and directly supported the publication of numerous artist book projects, catalogs, and monographs. 

From its beginning, William Griffin Gallery's philosophy has been to work in partnership with a select group of clients to develop meaningful and culturally significant collections. The gallery holds a long-term perspective and is strategic in its approach to collection-building. It has the focus, experience, and first-hand knowledge gleaned from shaping some of today's most important private collections, while also establishing those of tomorrow.