Essie Green Galleries

The guiding spirit and mentor of Essie Green Galleries was Romare Bearden. As a result we are often referred to as a Bearden Gallery. We concentrate on the sale of work by the senior Black Masters, following Mr. Bearden’s guidance.

Our first gallery opening took place on December 15th, 1979 in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We have celebrated continued growth since moving to the Sugar Hill area in Harlem from Brooklyn and have become a centerpiece of the new renaissance in Black culture not only in New York but throughout the whole of America.

Over the years we have also been called upon to work with and contribute to museum shows. In 1992, the gallery curated an exhibition of seventeen original works by Romare Bearden and Allen Stringfellow in the first fine arts exhibition in the renovated Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture entitled “JazzArts 1930’s-1990’s”.

Also, in 1990, Essie Green Galleries contributed more prints than any other gallery to the highly praised exhibition: “A GRAPHIC ODYSSEY ; ROMARE BEARDEN AS PRINTMAKER ”. These limited edition lithographs and silkscreens were from the gallery’s private collection. Beginning in 1990 and ending in 1997, this exhibition will travel to twenty venues throughout the nation and then will travel to Europe and Asia.