Is this a story of a child prodigy or a joke at the expense of the art world? In the curious case of Aelita Andre, it could be both of those things - or neither.
In October, Mark Jamieson the director of Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne's Fitzroy, was asked by a Russian-born photographer whose work he represented to consider the work of another artist.
Nikka Kalashnikova showed Jamieson some abstract paintings by an artist named Aelita Andre; Jamieson liked what he saw and agreed to include it in a group show, alongside work by Kalashnikova and Julia Palenov at his gallery later this month.
Jamieson then started to promote the show, printing glossy invitations and placing ads in the magazines
Art Almanac and
Art Collector, featuring the abstract work. Only then did he discover a crucial fact about the new artist: Aelita Andre is Kalashnikova's daughter, and then she was just 22 months old. She turns two tomorrow.
"I was shocked and, to be honest, a little embarrassed," Jamieson said, but he decided to proceed with the exhibition.
Jamieson said his gallery had a policy of supporting emerging artists, although that policy did not usually extend to artists quite so young. He said it was difficult to judge abstract art.
Kalashnikova said she and her husband, Michael Andre, did not set out to mislead the gallery. They simply wanted Aelita's work to be judged on its merits. "I wanted to get it out there and get a separate opinion," she said. "Of course, every mother is proud of their child. I didn't tell him [Jamieson] because I had all these feelings going through my head - fear, embarrassment."
She said Aelita began painting shortly before she could walk. Both parents are artists and Aelita was used to seeing them work on canvases on the floor.
Aelita's dad said as soon as she began drawing in her Montessori play group he could see her creations were different from other children's. "It immediately leapt out as a defined representation of something in an abstract form."
When shown the works without any information on the artist,
The Age's art critic, Robert Nelson said his first impression was of "credible abstractions, maybe playing on Asian screens with their reds.
"They're heavily reliant on figure/ground relations."
After learning Aelita's age, Nelson said he was not particularly surprised. "I have kids and when they were little I used to do lots of painting exercises with them. If it is a child's work it's not a child alone. We're happy to credit the child but it begins with a parental concept."
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Story by Clare Kermond for SMH. Photos by Wayne Taylor.You can view a video of Aelita painting here on TheVine.