‘Mini-Picasso’, 3, has 90,000 Instagram followers and his paintings sell for 6-figure sums

German toddler Laurent Schwarz loves to paint, and fans can’t get enough of his art. Galleries have shown interest, too

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Dubbed the “mini-Picasso, Laurent Schwarz, three years old, has become an Instagram and art world star. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:15pm, 25 Oct 2024Updated: 5:16pm, 25 Oct 2024

Three-year-old Laurent Schwarz may still be wearing nappies but his paintings have earned him social media fame and the nickname of Germany’s “mini-Picasso”.

In a studio his parents have set up at their home in the Bavarian town of Neubeuern, the toddler has been busy creating splashy artworks, often several times bigger than he is.

When he is not playing with his dinosaur toys, he likes to liberally apply acrylic paint to canvas with brushes, rollers or just his fingers to create riotously abstract pieces.

His parents said his works have attracted the eye of art lovers and galleries and fetched high prices. They insisted it was Laurent’s artistic passion that has fuelled the art world hype, media interest and his very early brush with fame.

Laurent Schwarz, three years old, creates an artwork in his studio in his parents’ house in Neubeuern, near Rosenheim, southern Germany. Photo: AFP

In his studio, the three-year-old German toddler paints canvases that are often larger than he is, with abstract and colourful patterns using brushes, rollers, or his fingers. Photo: AFP

His 33-year-old mother, Lisa Schwarz, said that the family discovered Laurent’s love for painting on a family holiday last year, at a hotel which had a studio.