Is a 4-year-old Australian the 'next Picasso'?

Not-your-average-toddler, Australian Aelita Andre poses in front of her abstract paintings, some of which have sold for tens of thousands of dollars.

(Image credit: MICK TSIKAS/Reuters/Corbis)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: New York City's Agora Gallery is showcasing the paintings of Australian artist Aelita Andre, described as an up-and-coming master of abstract impressionism and surrealism, and even the "next Picasso." (See a video about Andre below.) How up-and-coming? She's 4. But her art has been selling since she was a relatively unseasoned 2-year-old. The works at the Agora exhibition are listed at $5,000 to $11,000 a canvas, and she's sold at least nine so far — plus other pieces on the side, for as much as $30,000 each. Agora director Angela Di Bello says she had no idea the work was done by a toddler when she chose to feature it.

The reaction: "I am always wary when I hear the words 'art prodigy,'" says Mara Siegler at Guest of a Guest. But these "amazing" paintings are the real deal, and priced accordingly. It's enough to make you regret that you wasted your own babyhood merely struggling to pee systematically. Still, a "toddler Picasso"? says Geoff Hutchsion at Australia's ABC News. No way. Sure, Andre's done "nice splatter work," but there's a big gap between "gifted" and "genius." Maybe it isn't so far-fetched, says Rachel Quigley at the Daily Mail. As Picasso himself once said, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." Watch the video and judge for yourself: