This Tucson gallery owner sells art pieces in countries around the globe | Entertainment
Despite Kielsmeier’s sharp eye for good art, he isn’t an artist himself.
“I cannot draw or paint or anything. I do good stick figures,” he says. “I have no interested in (making art) — I just have a good eye.”
In some instances, Tucsonans will drop by the gallery, at 6530 E. Tanque Verde Road near North Kolb Road, with a piece of art to get looked at. If Kielsmeier is interested in the piece and doesn’t do an appraisal on it — citing a conflict of interest — he will buy the piece, add it to his website, and hold on to it at his gallery for locals or anyone else to potentially buy.
Wayne Kielsmeier specializes in mostly American and European paintings, prints, watercolors, drawings and sculptures.
Most of the work he purchases to sell, though, comes from clients out of state. Sometimes clients will reach him by email with artwork that they think Kielsmeier might want to purchase.
“It comes down to the period, the artist and what it looks like,” Kielsmeier says. “It has to appeal to me to buy it — and most good art appeals to me.”
In other instances, he’ll help broker the pieces — for locals, museum referrals, families handling estates — and facilitate the sales to locations in other states and across the globe. He’s sold pieces in Poland, England, Germany, Australia, Mexico, China and, most recently, France.
But sometimes there isn’t much of a market for the fine art in question — in which case, the art might get donated to a local charity.