A primary school art prodigy has seen his earnings soar to £1.5million – after the latest sale of his work raised almost £250,000 in just 20 minutes.
Ten-year-old Kieron Williamson, known as the ‘mini Monet’, has gained international renown since he began painting landscapes on a family holiday five years ago.
A sale of a collection last summer took his earnings past the million-pound mark.
And 23 of his works were snapped up for £242,000 in just 20 minutes by telephone and internet buyers at a sale on Friday.
The paintings sold for between £2,450 for a small watercolour to £30,000 for a winter snow scene near his home in Norfolk.
Kieron’s work first came on the market in 2009, when 19 of his paintings were sold for £14,000 in a sealed bid auction.
The earnings have allowed Kieron to buy a new house for his parents Keith and Michelle Williamson and also to invest in works by other artists such as English landscape painter L.S. Lowry.
Mr Williamson, 47, an art dealer, said: ‘Everyone in the art world reckons that his work has gone up a load of notches in the last year. Some of the bits and pieces he has done lately are just phenomenal.
‘We don’t put any pressure on him. He just paints when he wants to.’
Adrian Hill, the gallery manager who oversaw the sale, said: ‘Kieron’s paintings continue to be overwhelming and quite incredible.
‘I have seen him evolve and there has been a measured improvement in his work over the last year. He now seems to have elevated himself to another level.’
Kieron will be home-tutored from next year so he can focus on painting. Another dozen of his oil paintings and watercolours will be sold this Friday and are set to go for £100,000.
Kieron, who has a sister Billie-Jo, nine, began to paint at the age of five on a family holiday to Devon and Cornwall in 2008.
Kieron who has a sister Billie-Jo, nine, began to paint landscapes at the age of five on a family holiday in Devon and Cornwall in 2008.
His previous artistic talents were limited to colouring in dinosaurs which his parents had drawn for him.
Mr Williamson, who plans to work in his son’s gallery when it opens in September, said: ‘He is just a normal boy who loves football. Apart from being a great artist, he is also very strong for his age and athletic.’
Most of his paintings are of landscapes around Norfolk where he has lived all his life and Cornwall which is his favourite holiday spot.
His latest buyers have come from across the UK and Europe and as far away as the United States, Japan and Canada.
All the paintings which were sold last week will be exhibited at the Picturecraft gallery, along with the others which will be up for sale.
Kieron’s earnings are all being channelled through his own company Kieron Williamson Limited which has his parents as directors
Mr Williamson said: ‘This exhibition should take his earnings from when he started to close to £1.5million.
‘He pays VAT like any other business and he has just had a massive tax bill. The house at Ludham is his and he wants to live there on his own one day.
‘He is not really motivated by the money side of things. He just wants to do paintings that people will like.’
Kieron will be leaving Ludham Primary School this week and will be home-tutored from next year so he can concentrate on painting.
Mr Williamson added: ‘We have not got a problem with him being at home because he is so self-motivated. He is a bright lad and we expect to fast-track him his GCSEs when he is 13 or 14.’
Adrian Hill, the managing director of the Picturecraft gallery, said: ‘Kieron’s paintings continue to be overwhelming and quite incredible.
‘I have seen him evolve and there has been a measured improvement in his work over the last year.
‘He now seems to have elevated himself to another level. There is more confidence in his brush strokes
‘The recognition from art critics and fine artists is absolutely remarkable. A senior figure from the Royal Institute of Oil Painters who met him described him as the future of oil painting in the UK.
‘People just cannot believe that he is producing work like he does and he is still only ten-years-old.’
Kieron’s work first came on the market in 2009 when 19 of his paintings were sold for £14,000 in a sealed bid auction.
Three months later another 16 of his paintings were up snapped for £17,000 in just 14 minutes in his second exhibition at the Picturecraft gallery.
An exhibition of 33 of his oils, watercolours and pastels sold out within half an hour for £150,000 in July 2010 with buyers flying in from Arizona, New York and South Africa.
Some fans camped outside the gallery for up to 48 hours to make sure they did not miss out on one of his paintings while others telephoned in bids from Tokyo, Canada and Germany.
Kieron made £106,260 in November 2011 when another exhibition of a dozen paintings sold out in just ten minutes and 50 seconds.
His earnings rocketed by another £250,000 last July with the sale of 24 paintings.
Mrs Williamson has now written a book detailing her son’s astonishing career, called ‘Kieron Williamson Coming to Light – The Remarkable Story of a Child’s Gift to Painting’.
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