Meet Ace-Liam Ankrah. He’s not even two years old. The Ghana toddler has set the record as the world’s youngest male artist.
His mom, Chantelle Kukua Eghan, is an artist too. She says Ace-Liam’s art started by accident when he was six months old. That’s when he discovered her acrylic paints.
Ms. Eghan was looking for a way to keep her boy busy while working on her own paintings.
“I spread out a canvas on the floor and added paint to it, and then in the process of crawling he ended up spreading all the colors on the canvas,” she says.
And that’s how his first artwork, The Crawl, was born.
Ace-Liam kept on painting.
Ms. Eghan decided to apply for the record last June. To break the previous record, her son would have to exhibit and sell his paintings.
Ace-Liam’s mom arranged for his first exhibition at the Museum of Science and Technology in Accra, Ghana, in January. Nine out of 10 of his pieces listed sold.
Guinness World Records confirmed the record. The company released a statement last week that “at the age of 1 year 152 days, little Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah from Ghana is the world’s youngest male artist.”
The overall record for the world’s youngest artist is currently held by India’s Arushi Bhatnagar. She had her first exhibition at the age of 11 months. She sold her first painting for 5,000 Rupees ($60) in 2003.
Ace-Liam will turn two in July. He still loves painting. He loves to go with his mom to her studio, where a corner has been set off just for him. He sometimes paints in just five-minute sessions, returning to the same canvas over days and weeks.
He runs around the studio with bursts of energy—just like any little boy his age. But sometimes he focuses on a painting for nearly an hour at a time. He chooses green, yellow, and blue for his latest work-in-progress. He rubs the oil colors into the canvas with his tiny fingers.
Ms. Eghan says she won’t sell The Crawl. She plans to keep it in the family.
How much would you pay for one of Ace-Liam’s paintings? Or maybe you have a little sibling who could make you something similar for free!
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. — Psalm 127:3
