I am feeling a little cynical today after reading a news story about the latest child prodigy artist to hit the media. This happens every few years. Parents give their kid a paintbrush and set them to paper (as you should with young children). The parents see their kids’ work and think it is clearly beyond anything a child of that age has ever produced before. Then they take the paintings to the media and before you know it these kids are making more money than I could ever dream of. Remember in 2004 Marla Olmstead? Her father claimed she was channeling Jackson Pollock and was abstract genius. All the media and public at large need to catch their ear is a name like Jackson Pollock and the hype is on. In a matter of months Marla was all over the news, magazines, and art world. She even starred in the documentary “My Kid Could Paint That.”
Was she really a child Jackson Pollock? Well, my answer comes invariably from my training in art history. Four year olds paint because it is fun and exploratory. Most four year olds don’t produce realistic portraits or landscapes but from the heart. This type of art, generally referred to as naïve (by an untrained artist), can be exceptional without the artist receiving professional training. But any similarity it has between the work of another artist is coincidental, not intentional. To me, that makes all the difference. I am not concerned with “good” or “bad” art, but art with thought behind it. Often what makes a work of art interesting to me is learning about the process behind it, including the artist’s training. This is essentially the difference between Marla and Jackson Pollock. Pollock was highly trained. While his work might look child-like, there is a profound reason for it. Marla’s is child-like because she is a child.
So who is this new child prodigy? His name is Kieron Williamson, a 7 year old from England. A range of news stories on Kieron over the last few years have called him a “mini-Monet” and a Picasso. One news story was even titled “The boy who paints like an Old Master.” As in the case of Marla, these are big words for such a young kid. I felt I had to check Kieron’s work out for myself. Unlike many of the prodigies out there, Kieron does seem to have had some artistic training. He has a good understanding of perspective and color, producing reasonably good paintings for a kid his age. But are they like Monet, Picasso (definitely not), or any of the Old Masters? I think these are overly-enthusiastic journalists trying to create extra hype. These are words that mean something to the public at large and feed the craze for Kieron’s work.
Kieron Williamson. After Gilman. 2009.
I am certainly not one to begrudge a reasonably talented seven year old of money for his college education, but I wish there was a more articulate way of describing him. Can’t we let Kieron be a talented kid rather than labeling him according to the known styles of others? Is Kieron, or Marla for that matter, actually a prodigy? I can’t answer that really. Surely there are prodigies in the world. But I think there needs to be better clarification between a talented child and an Old Master.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
am really stunned by Kieron’s paintings, they are just awesome! the mastery he has shown at this age in color, composition and perspective really puts him in the prodigy category. whats your reason to not associate with masters?
i believe pretty strongly in formal art education, to be honest. i think Kieron understands color, composition and perspective very well, as you say. but the Old Masters are primarily Renaissance painters with a more carefully executed brushstroke. they also studied one another in order to learn one another’s techniques. with some further study, I think Kieron could get there. the more pressing comparison is really to Monet and this I find just inaccurate. his work is not Impressionistic, but it’s not tight either. my point really is that it is not doing him justice to so quickly compare Kieron to other big names in art. he is doing his own thing and has time to create his own place. i really would just prefer he not be categorized so early in his career.