Nine-year-old Kieron Williamson dubbed ‘Mini Monet’
Baku, November 24 (AZERTAC). Nine-year-old Kieron Williamson, who the media had dubbed as ‘Mini Monet’, after his record-breaking show last year, will be exhibiting 12 new landscapes in oils, water colour and pastels between November 11 and November 23, 2011, at the Picture craft Gallery in Norfolk, UK — the same gallery where his work was first seen.
Kieron Williamson, a nine-year-old, has been making waves in the UK since 2010. His first exhibition was a runaway success and is said to have been sold out in the space of 30 minutes. Son of an art dealer, this child prodigy has probably been brought up surrounded by artworks of all types and we may thus say that this has helped him to develop an ‘instinct’ for art. But what about technique and drawing skills? These cannot be inspired, but have to come from within and are usually the result of years of practice. His favourite teacher, Tony Garner, says that Kieron is a “very visual learner” and considers him “head and shoulders above” the other 1,000-odd students that he has taught.
Earlier this year, there was another showing of Kieron’s works at the Delamore Arts Festival in Cornwood Devon. The opening on May 1, at the exhibition at Delamore House, considered one of the biggest art and sculpture shows in the south-west of Britain, the most sought after among the artists’ were Kieron’s works. According to media reports, “Fans camped outside the gallery days before the sale, with people from as far away as Arizona in the US snapping up his paintings”. On this occasion, Kieron had exhibited six paintings worth £50,000 in a special area of the gallery. During this show, his parents had conveyed that there were plans for another exhibition to coincide with Kieron’s 10th birthday.
UK media reports have stated that this child prodigy has “already earned enough from art to buy a house on the Norfolk Broads”. The works that are being exhibited this year is expected to sell between £100 and £15,500. Now after Kieron’s two sold-out exhibitions, it is said that there is a waiting list of over 3,000 people keen on buying his paintings.
Having shot to fame in 2009, Kieron has been covered extensively by the media. The BBC and TV stations in the US and Japan have featured him regularly. He was also the subject of a Channel 4 documentary. Child Genius, in October 2010. As for being a ‘Mini Monet’, one can say that he shares his love of nature with French Impressionist Claude Monet. Kieron’s style is, according to gallery owner Adrien Hill, “Realistic, without being too abstract,” Kieron himself has been quoted as having said that “he likes to paint the sky, with not too many hills or mountains.” There have also been some comparisons made between Kieron and Pablo Picasso, who was also a child prodigy.
It is a pity that there is no possibility of this amazing child prodigy and his work coming to India. It would be a very special experience seeing the work of someone who is undoubtedly destined for greater things in the years to come.
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