Art dealer Richard Green Gallery unveils new plans
11 January 2024
Art dealer Richard Green Gallery unveils new plans
Leading London art dealership Richard Green Gallery is to focus on just one gallery on Bond Street, as it reveals the next generation of the family has joined the business.
The firm will leave its 33 New Bond Street home to concentrate on its larger premises on the other side of the road at number 147.
It will retain ownership of the freehold of the building at number 33 and has sublet the space to a French fashion brand. The firm purchased the freehold in 1995, refurbished the building and opened its gallery in 2011.
The 147 New Bond Street site has been the gallery’s headquarters since 1998.
The five-storey building currently hosts a collection of Old Masters, British paintings, 19th century and Impressionist art, while the gallery at 33 New Bond Street was focused on Modern British and International Post-War art. The move will take place this month.
The decision was led by CEO Jonathan Green with the support of the board of Richard Green and its co-directors.
Jonathan said the firm has “always responded flexibly to changing art market conditions… and we accepted a favourable offer from a fashion house to lease 33 New Bond Street”.
He added: “We are fortunate in this respect to have two galleries in proximity in a prime location in central London. But we have decided it is better to focus our attention on the larger of our two galleries.
“However, letting 33 New Bond Street does not mean that we are reducing our interest in modern art – far from it.
“We believe that the modern paintings will benefit from the larger space, and the potential to juxtapose modern work with the older Masters and British paintings that we have always dealt in. 147 New Bond Street will henceforward be home to a greater span of art history than before.
“Our gallery will continue to own the freehold of 33 New Bond Street and therefore will have the option of returning in the future.”
Demand by fashion brands for prime retail space in the Mayfair has soared in recent years with multi-million pound prices paid to secure space on Bond Street in addition to multi-million pound annual rents.
Richard Green Gallery was formed nearly 70 years ago when Richard set up his own firm following a spell working for his father James Green who had opened his first gallery in 1936 in St James’s Street (the year Richard was born).
The family has had Mayfair addresses on Dover Street and Bond Street over the years.
Alongside the announcement of the move, the firm said that Charles Green, Jonathan’s second son, has joined the family firm – the fourth generation to do so. Charles, 24, is a graduate of the NYU Stern School of Business and has worked for Sotheby’s in New York in its marketing department.
The firm continues to be led by chairman Richard, his wife Jenny, their son Jonathan (CEO) as well as Richard’s sister Penny Marks (director) and his daughter Marie Claire Green (director).
Richard said: “I am delighted that my grandson has joined us at the Richard Green Gallery.
“This is a family business and there is no better way to learn about the art business than for us to share with the younger generation knowledge that we have gained over time.”