He still wears diapers, but in just a few months he has become a star of Instagram and the art world.
Some media have already nicknamed it the “Mini-Picasso”.
In his workshop located in a corner of his house in Neubeuern, Bavaria, Laurent Schwarz, a three-year-old German toddler, paints canvases often larger than him of abstract and colorful patterns with brushes, rollers, or sometimes simply with his fingers covered in paint.
He discovered this passion almost a year ago, during a vacation in a family hotel that had a workshop.
“We came home, and he just wanted to paint, paint, paint,” his mother Lisa Schwarz, 33, told AFP.
His parents set up a workshop for him in a corner of their house, bought him a few canvases and paint.
They created an Instagram account which describes, with supporting photos and videos, the work of their offspring.
“In four weeks, we had reached 10,000 followers,” recalls Lisa Schwarz, who nevertheless assures that she was initially only looking for a way to easily share images of her son’s work with family and friends.
The first requests for galleries are pouring in, fueled by the enthusiasm of the media and social networks around the little prodigy.
The latter now has 90,000 followers. During a sale organized at the end of September in Neubeuern, buyers from all over the world sometimes bet up to several hundred thousand euros on his works.
“Among those interested, there was a famous American actor, royal families… It was incredible,” assures Lisa Schwarz.
– Wonders of the brush –
Even if the little Bavarian developed a passion for his art very early on, he was not the first to pick up brushes early.
And fashion phenomena surrounding the emergence of children presented in the media as the new “little Picassos” are not rare.
In 2022, for example, ten-year-old American Andres Valencia sold his works inspired by the Spanish master of Cubism for several hundred thousand Euros.
Before him, Romanian-American artist Alexandra Nechita was nicknamed “Little Picasso” in the late 1990s after attracting the attention of the artistic community at the age of 12. Other similar cases exist elsewhere in the world.
Laurent Schwarz’s parents say they are still very surprised by the turn their son’s adventure has taken.
They also ensure that the money paid for their works goes into an account in the child’s name and that they can use it as they wish once they become adults.
“He can study painting, buy a car, play an instrument or play football… It’s up to him,” promises his father Philippe Schwarz, 43. “The important thing for us is that he is happy,” he says.
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