Speaking of painting prodigies with the Financial Times’s recent focus on Autumn de Forest, the 14-year-old American artist, the Daily Mail counters with a check back in on Kieron Williamson, the British artist who is now 13 and claims £2.5m in lifetime sales:

He was six years old when his work first came on the market in 2009 with 19 of his paintings being sold for £14,000 in a sealed bid auction.

Three months later, another 16 of his paintings were snapped up for £17,000 in just 14 minutes in his second exhibition at the Picturecraft gallery

Ever since then, he has sold the bulk of his work in annual exhibitions at the gallery, with prices he has achieved increasing year on year.

Williamson’s mother suggests that the gross sales figures doesn’t really tell the whole story. But the Williamsons seem to be viewing art as a meaningful asset beyond their son’s own work:

‘It might seem like he is earning a lot, but you have to take into account that he has to pay VAT, corporation tax, commission and other expenses.’ […]

Mrs Williamson said her son was also continuing to buy and sell paintings by artists including Alfred Munnings, Edward Seago and others from the Newlyn school of art in Cornwall.

Painting prodigy, 13, dubbed ‘the Mini Monet’ takes career earnings to £2.5million  (Daily Mail Online)