Art gallery puts on show for abstract paintings – later discovering that artist is aged 22 months
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Can we call this a story of a child prodigy? Or shall we call it a deliberate joke at the expense of the art world?
In the curious case of Aelita Andre, it could be both — or neither.
Unfortunately, most “art people” can be described as gullible, pretentious and extremely prideful… and Fitzroy commercial gallery director Mark Jamieson possibily fell into this description when was asked by a Russian-born photographer. Nikka Kalashnikova showed Jamieson some photos of abstract paintings by an artist he simply called Aelita Andre – and Jamieson liked what he saw so he agreed to include it in a show at his Australian gallery.
Jamieson then started to promote the show, printing glossy invitations and placing ads in Antipodean magazines Art Almanac and Art Collector, in which the abstract work was featured.
Then he discovered a crucial fact about the emerging artist – Aelita Andre was Nikka Kalashnikova’s daughter, and she was then just 22 months old.
In one magazine article, Kalashnikova says Aelita began painting shortly before she could walk. Both parents are artists and Aelita was used to seeing them work on canvases on the floor.
Aelita’s paintings are priced between $350 and $2000.
Then there’s the My Kid Could Paint phenomenon… on four year old artist Marla Olmstead of New York who took the art world by storm
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