You’ve probably heard the remark ‘my kid could do that’ regarding a modern work of art. It’s a dismissive statement that discounts both the creativity of children and the work of adult artists.
Yes, children paint and create inspiring artworks, just turn your eye to the Young Archies which go on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales every year. Some other examples of young talent include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756) who began composing classical music around the age of 5, Wang Yani (1975) who was about 2 when she started traditional Chinese ink painting and was the youngest artist to have a solo exhibition at the Smithsonian at age 14. Also of note, Edmund Thomas Clint (1976) who was an Indian child prodigy who also started painting very young and had a prolific output in his 7 years of life.
Some contemporary examples include Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah from Ghana who at 1 year and 152 days old became the world’s youngest male artist, according to the Guiness World Record. His mother Chantelle Eghan, who is also an artist said she laid an unstretched canvas on the floor and some paint to occupy her newly crawling 6 month old while she worked. Ace-Liam got to work too. She said ‘It was clear that he found a lot of joy in it.’ His family is hoping that this newfound fame will lead to greater education or scholarship opportunities in the future. On the attention his mother said ‘He has created a buzz and heightened the conversation about art appreciation.’
In the past two years toddler Laurent Schwarz, a 3 year old from Bavaria, Germany, has found fame through Instagram, as well as several astonished press reports on Laurent’s motivation and high sale prices. His parents Lisa and Philipp Schwarz noticed their son’s interest in painting while on holiday in Italy and encouraged it by getting him the paint supplies he needed. Since he’s been painting Laurent has had exhibitions and participated in art fairs, as well as selling his work online. His mother Lisa seems to run the Instagram which has more than 100K followers (a number that almost tripled in 2024), she also maintains a contemporary and professional website. Art runs in the family, his father Philipp is also an artist, and so is his grandfather. Laurent does not do commissions, the sales are all kept aside for him in a bank account for when he turns 18, and he paints whenever he feels like it.
Now 12 years of age Mikail Akar, also from Germany, started painting age 4 and was catching the attention of the art market age 7 after his father posted an image of his work to Facebook. His style has been compared, early on to Jackson Pollock and now to Jean-Michele Basquiat. He now partners with brands such as Rolls-Royce and Uber as well as charities painting in his style and upon luxury and classic cars. Mikail’s art career is managed by his parents.
As demonstrated so far, most press stories of contemporary rising art stars often include reference to their parents, many of whom are artists. Perhaps this suggests the success of the child is to do with a wily parent. This implication may have some merit but also as children are under the care of their parents it seems totally appropriate that their interactions with the world and unfettered nature of the internet are moderated by an adult. Many of the parents say they are banking today’s earnings for future education and financial security.
The complex relationship between child, parent and the interested public was on display in the story of Marla Olmstead, who rose to notoriety in the early aughts. Marla was 4 when she is said to have started painting, she quickly found fame and is said to have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. There was so much interest a documentary followed the story in 2007 titled My Kid Could Paint That which possibly cast doubt, though it did not take an official position, on the authenticity of her work.
Since then, it’s been reported that Marla continued to paint but stayed out of the spotlight and doesn’t seem to have a media presence now. Ten years ago Marla, then 15 and still painting for pleasure, did an interview where she expressed some embarrassment and also disinterest in the media storm from when she was little.
Australian abstract painter Aelita Andre started painting before she could walk. Her father has recounted the ‘amazing and spontaneous’ moment he, an artist too, witnessed his daughter squeezing tubes of paint on a canvas he had rolled out to work on. Since, like the others described in this article, her creative output remained strong, she sold work and exhibited around the world. The ABC even featured Aelita in their documentary about child prodigies. She has a website, YouTube channel, and Instagram with a recent post describing exhibiting her paintings in Paris as she prepares busily for applying to university. Clearly her passion was not a flash in the pan. She has also recently released a book.
Another young artist on the radar is Andres Valencia. He too has released a book, and before he entered teenagerhood, became the youngest artist in 2021 to ever sell at Art Miami. His most widely shared artwork was titled ‘Invasion of Ukraine’ and he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel in 2024 to talk about his paintings inspired by Cubism, the internet, news and his imagination.
From the interest of documentary, investigative journalism, pop-culture press and comedy television it seems the place of the child artist is a curiosity or oddity.
Art galleries and social structures in general, go to lengths to inform, educate and introduce you to the ‘ways of seeing’ art. If a person was guided to feel comfortable appreciating an artwork on these terms it’s not hard to imagine how you might feel shy (or not empowered) to enjoy the work of a child that has not been validated by these structures. Maybe the prescriptive formula for value is why the parents of young artists lead them to the bestower of the cultural capital, the press, the galleries, the social media platforms. This self-reflexivity seems to make the public annoyed or sceptical.
So, is the issue or discomfort we take with art produced by children more associated with one’s own insecurity because we don’t know what is ‘good’?
Do grown-ups find it threatening that children would possess genius? Can only the so-called ‘mature’ person or adult be capable of creating something worth seeing? If the role of the artist is to offer a new perspective to ponder, surely a child could do this too.
It shouldn’t come as such a surprise that in the age of the internet and social media, more children are being recognised for their artistic ability and some parents are monetising their children’s passion. Some people may baulk at the high prices paid for art created by children. But perhaps we should just be happy that some kids are fortunate enough to receive recognition and remuneration derived from their innocent impulse to make art.