Luck Fish Gallery is the continuation of a journey that in the beginning had nothing at all to do with art. In 2000, an auspicious year for many reasons, sisters Melanie Golter and Julie Glandt were in Moldova and Romania touring orphanages on behalf of an American NGO. Poverty in these two poorest of European countries is rampant and conditions are at times heartbreaking, especially in the orphanages, where even basic amenities like running water and electricity are in many cases not available; where children sleep on the floor, sometimes without mattresses. The situation is even more tragic because much of the citizenry in both countries is well educated. However, for historical and geographical reasons, education hasn’t brought success. Even so, the people still hope.

On the last day of their visit, Melanie and Julie were given a tour of Moldova’s national art museum (lest they leave with the sense that there was nothing good to be had in the country). They were amazed, dumbfounded: collected within these walls was some of the most accomplished art they had ever seen. Moldova, it turns out, has a long and rich tradition in fine arts, a tradition which continues to evolve; but which is largely unknown in Western Europe, let alone in America. Julie and Melanie immediately recognized an opportunity, and on the flight back home to North Carolina, they hatched the idea of bringing Moldovan and Romanian paintings from obscurity to the attention of American buyers. This, they hoped, would provide opportunity to literally starving artists, who as a group are as talented as any in the world, but who are unfortunate enough to live in countries that have not yet integrated with that larger world.

Lucky Fish Gallery was established the following year, in 2001, originally under the name Molee Fine Art. Since then it has undergone considerable evolution. We have added artists, including some from the U.S., and expanded the scope of our offerings. We are proud to say that the lives of many artists and their families are better because of their association with Lucky Fish, and we hope to continue to enlarge our gallery so that even more people, artists and art appreciators alike, can enjoy the fruits of this enterprise.

Our strength is in the personal relationships we have with each artist, in the quality of their work, and in our absolute commitment to you as our customer.