A two-year-old boy in Germany is being hailed as a “pint-sized Picasso” after selling his paintings for around $7000 each.
According to U.K. newspaper The Times, Laurent Schwarz from Bavaria has created a portfolio of abstract paintings of elephants, dinosaurs and horses, among others.
Speaking to The Times, the young artist’s mother revealed that she noticed her son’s talent while the family was on vacation in South Tyrol, Italy, in September 2023.
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Laurent Schwarz
“There was a painting room in the hotel and we couldn’t get him out of it,” Lisa Schwarz, 32, said. “Just before Christmas we set up a studio for him and he was in it all the time.”
Lisa decided to set up a page on Instagram of her son’s work, which quickly picked up close to 30,000 followers.
Laurent Schwarz
“I thought I’d set up a channel because what he was painting looked so nice,” the proud mother said. “That triggered a real hype.”
Lisa then put some of the paintings up for sale on the website, laurents.art and it has since been snapped up by art lovers from as far afield as the U.K. and the Bahamas. The family was also contacted by a New York gallery, who requested to display Laurent’s artwork, reported The Times.
Laurent Schwarz
According to the outlet, a private viewing of Laurent’s art will take place in August in his home village Neubeuern, with the proceeds being safely stored in a bank account until the budding Picasso turns 18-years-old.
“It’s totally up to him when and what he paints,” Lisa told The Times. “Sometimes he doesn’t feel like painting and doesn’t set foot in his studio for three or four weeks but then suddenly it grabs him and he says, ‘Mama, painting.’ ”
Laurent Schwarz
Laurent’s art sales come after 8-year-old Chess prodigy Ashwath Kaushik became the youngest player to ever defeat a grandmaster in an official tournament on February 18.
The Singapore player defeated Poland’s Jacek Stopa, 37, in the fourth round of the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open — and broke a record set the previous month by 8-year-old Leonid Ivanovic from Serbia
“It felt really exciting and amazing, and I felt proud of my game and how I played, especially since I was worse at one point but managed to come back from that,” the boy told Chess.com.
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In April, Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi, 6, broke a musical record held by big sister Blue Ivy, 12, by becoming the youngest woman to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Rumi appears on her mom’s new album Cowboy Carter after Beyoncé asks “Mom, can I hear the lullaby, please?” in the song “Protector.”
Blue Ivy previously sang on “Brown Skinned Girl” for The Lion King soundtrack at just 7 years old.
