Youngster Pollock, barely three years old, leaves the art community in awe.
Some claim he's a phenom, case closed, and fork over five-digit figures to buy a painting by a 3-year-old. Others, like art scholars and experts, pose concerns about our society with the buzz surrounding a kid's art.
At social events, Laurent Schwarz smears paint on his palm – and presses it onto paper. He can't write yet. He greets guests with a pacifier in hand, wearing diapers. Yet, art enthusiasts from around the globe drop - as his mother Lisa Schwarz puts it - five-figure sums for his creations. On September 19, the blonde toddler will have his debut exhibition in his Bavarian hometown of Neubeuern, barely two weeks after his third birthday on September 5.
The tiny tyke, barely taller than some canvases he works on, began his "career" about seven months ago while on family vacation in Italy. Since then, he's been enamored with colors, his parents Lisa and Philipp share. Even during their last vacation, they had to carry canvas and acrylic paints along – "otherwise, he wouldn't get in the car," his father Philipp says. He painted in a park.
"Mommy, paint, paint!"
Back home in the 500-year-old heritage-protected house in Neubeuern, his parents transformed a studio for him: painter's cloth on the floor, splashes of color everywhere, even blue paint spots on the TV. He starts as early as 6 AM: "Mommy, paint, paint."
The father, who runs an oven-building company with his wife in the fourth generation, designed the house himself: individual, refined in every detail. Not only Laurent's paintings decorate the walls here. His father also paints, and especially his grandfather created numerous artworks.
Paints, brushes, rollers, spatulas, wooden pieces: Laurent, as seen in an Instagram video, grabs whatever he can find – especially lots of paint: he squeezes it thickly from tubes onto the canvas, clearly having a blast. His style bears a resemblance to Jackson Pollock, who popularized action painting.
A fondness for elephants
He uses his hands to create shapes: a baby elephant, blue with a red eye, appears on one painting, Laurent informs the guest. He adores elephants. The so-called "red-toned" painting is his favorite. There's also a camel and dinosaurs – and on a painting titled "The People," three figures stand in silhouette.
He paints abstractly and figuratively, his mother explains. That's what sets him apart. Sometimes a painting is completed in just a few minutes; other times, it takes over a week. He works on about five paintings at a time. Once he finishes a piece, he simply says, "Done!" Then off to the bathtub: paint on hands, feet, face, legs.
Tiny da Vinci's, big rivalries
Laurent isn't the only mini Picasso or Monet. Media often compares these children to masters like Gerhard Richter, Jean-Michel Basquiat, or Cy Twombly – even if the kids may not know the works of these artists.
Pablo Picasso once said that he could paint like Raphael as a child. But it took him a lifetime to learn to paint like a child again. Picasso also said, "Every child is an artist. The challenge is staying an artist when you grow up."
Art historians sometimes temper the youth-artist craze. They highlight that artistic enthusiasm in children should be encouraged. However, one cannot simply label children's creations as art – for that, a work must also be "discourse-capable."
According to conventional wisdom, an artwork must spark social dialogue, utilizing art's unique means. It must be pertinent and stimulate. Yet, a child lacks this reflexive ability. Just because their paintings are appreciated as beautiful or evocative does not necessarily mean they are artworks in the genuine sense, according to numerous art historians.
"To be a talented painter – like Gerhard Richter, for instance – one must be on par socially. In fact, every form of art gains significance only through its societal relevance," says Markus Heinzelmann, former director of the Museum Morsbroich for contemporary art in Leverkusen and now a professor at the Ruhr University Bochum. If society believes a three-year-old can provide insights into its composition, then this raises certain questions.
60,000 Followers
Laurent's fame blossomed almost by chance, according to his parents. Lisa uploaded his first painting, "The Fingers," on Instagram so family members in Switzerland and his grandmother could see it. More images followed. "Then a gallery contacted us. Soon after, the first pictures were sold."
Laurent now boasts over 60,000 followers on Instagram. There are approximately 20,000 interested parties on the waiting list for his paintings. Twenty-five of his approximately 35 paintings have been sold, including to the USA, Paris, London, the Bahamas, Japan, and Singapore. Laurent is set to receive his own paint line from a company soon, and Laurent wallpaper featuring snippets of his paintings is also in the works.
Apart from admiring letters, the family also encounters negative feedback, like accusations of overexposure at an early age. Philipp, Laurent's dad, defends him by allowing him to paint whenever he desires and providing him with paint supplies. "What truly matters is that he gets to be a kid." Essentially, Laurent is just a typical kid. He has a fondness for swimming and blue ice cream, particularly from a local vendor. Blue is indeed his favorite color.
A prodigious artist from Africa is making headlines. Ace-Liam is reported to have begun painting at six months old and was recognized as the youngest male artist in the Guinness Book unaided until his second birthday. His mother reached out to Lisa Schwarz, who manages young artists, in hopes that Ace-Liam and another young artist could collaborate. However, the distance between Ghana and where Lisa Schwarz is located is quite substantial.
"Every child carries an innate wonder," Lisa Schwarz asserts. Similarly, at four years old, Mikail Akar from Cologne started painting. His father, Kerem Akar, reveals that significant sums – reaching half a million euros – have been offered for Mikail's paintings. One of the most well-known international museums took notice of Mikail's talent. As Kerem Akar proudly states, "The Guggenheim Museum in New York auctioned off a painting by Mikail - a moment we are incredibly proud of." The painting titled "King of New York" was sold for 17,000 euros.
Mikail has created around 400 pieces and is currently working on a 50-meter-long artwork. Exhibitions are planned in Miami, Vienna, Palma, and Cologne until November. Mikhail is garnering praise in the press and art world, but his father insists that he remains humble. "He says, 'I'm not a prodigy. Every child carries an innate wonder - it just needs to be discovered,'" Kerem Akar quotes his son. He believes that "there are many talents in the world," and for that reason, he left his job as a salesman to manage Mikhail and over a dozen other artists. "What is essential is ongoing growth."
Laurent's mother eagerly anticipates seeing how her young prodigy develops. "Maybe he'll lose interest in two years and give it up," she speculates, although she struggles to imagine such an outcome given his intense passion. If he were to lose interest, though, he'd have a substantial financial buffer by the age of eighteen: "Every penny goes into his account."
The European Union has expressed interest in Laurent Schwarz's paintings, as the young artist's fame continues to spread globally with over 60,000 Instagram followers and paintings sold in various countries.
In light of the growing buzz surrounding child prodigies in the art world, art historian Markus Heinzelmann poses questions about societal implications, suggesting that a three-year-old's paintings gaining societal relevance raises certain questions.
