Dina Vierny, Aristide Maillol's muse and last great model, opened her art gallery in 1947, fulfilling the sculptor's wish. She began her career as a gallery owner and art dealer with her first retrospective exhibition dedicated to Maillol, in which she presented works from her personal collection, unveiled to the public for the first time at the inauguration of the space at 36 rue Jacob.

On this occasion, she is exhibiting seven bronze statues, sixteen drawings, twenty-nine statuettes and eight paintings, including a small version of ‘La Nuit’ and ‘Léda’. The opening took place on 25 January 1947, and the exhibition was open to the public from 30 January to 15 March 1947. Paul Guyot mentioned this first exhibition in an article in France-Soir:

‘On Rue Jacob, at sewer level, Perret played God to illuminate Maillol and the pope of architects built a cigar box to house the sculptor's painting and pipe.
The cellar of a ‘bougnat’. Yesterday, artists and critics alike were drinking in the cellar. For the narrow, hollow crypt beneath 36 rue Jacob is more populated with ghosts than a René Clair film. The ghosts are white. They have just been stripped of the sheet that protected them during the Pyrenees-Pari journey. They are Maillol's statues, collected here by Madame Dina Vierny, who was the master's model and secretary for nine years.
And the young woman guides her guests around her own marble and bronze replicas. Suddenly, the enchanted cellar lights up: invisible mercury vapour tubes banish all memory of the Bougnat, the previous tenant. Auguste Perret, the pope of architects himself, engineered the lighting. He played with light and shadow like the good Lord, restoring to the sculptor's work, just above the sewers, a relief that only real sunlight can give.
- Paul Guyot, ‘Les expositions de la semaine’, France - soir, 29 January 1947

The exhibition was a great success, helping to establish the reputation of Dina Vierny and her gallery. Numerous personalities from the worlds of art, culture and politics attended the event, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau and André Malraux. The presence of these emblematic figures testifies to the growing importance of Dina Vierny's gallery in the artistic landscape of the time, reinforcing its influence and influence.