2-Year-Old Lola June Has Paintings Sold For More Than $1,000

Apr 17, 2019

Lola June is living the dream of young artists, the world over. In February, she opened her first solo show through Chashama, in a New York City gallery located on Greenwich Avenue., GMA reported.  The exhibition (simply entitled “Hope”) included 37 of her paintings, all acrylic on canvas, which sold for up to $1500.

Since then, Anita Durst, the artistic director of Chashama, has been fielding calls from art collectors who want to know how to purchase a Lola June original.

"Her palette, the way she chooses her colors are really exceptional of the young artist’s work,” Durst said in an interview with GMA.

As proclaimed in an artist’s statement that accompanied the “Hope” paintings, that work “would fit perfectly at a group show with Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and other famous abstract expressionist painters.”

But there’s a big difference between Lola and most artists jockeying for a spot in the galleries of New York City. One that meant, when she arrived at her first solo show with one hand tightly clenched around a cookie and then ended the night by asking for her teddy bear, the gallery-goers understood.

Lola June, after all, is only 2 years old. And the artwork that prompted her discovery by fellow artist Pajtim Osmanaj was a simple series of Crayola scribblings done on blank printer paper. Osmanaj, who curated the “Hope” exhibit, said he did not believe that creating art should require years of experience. By showing Lola’s art, he hoped to make others question “the difference between a master painter and a young child.”

“I’m not treating the work like a kid’s work,” he told the NY post. “I’m treating it like anything else.”

After spying those original crayon drawings, Osmanaj brought back acrylic paints and a canvas for Lola. He was so impressed with the work she produced that he eventually submitted an application to Chashama, seeking space for an exhibition.

“When we saw Lola’s application we thought it was a beautiful and brilliant idea to show a child’s art,” Durst said. “People see the work and they are astounded by the brilliance.”

To those skeptics asking whether Lola is a genuine talent or simply good for a toddler, Durst said both were really true.

"Lola is good. And she is good for a 2-year-old."

What do you think of this “pint-sized Picasso’s” early work? Comment to let us know - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!