Marla Olmstead

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Marla Olmstead (born 2000 in Binghamton, New York) is an artist, considered by some to be a child prodigy of abstract art.

Olmstead began painting before her second birthday and by 2004 had attracted international media attention. Her abstract pieces have been as large as five feet (1.52m) square, hailed by critics as impressively complex, and have sold for tens of thousands of US dollars. Rarely has anyone but her parents witnessed her art during its creation.

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[edit] Early stages

Olmstead began painting just before her second birthday in early 2002 when her father, Mark, gave her paint to divert her from distracting him from his own amateur painting.[1] Eventually, Marla's work was on display at a local coffee-shop. Soon after a customer bought one of Marla's paintings for $250, a local gallery owner was shown one of her works and eventually organized a show at his gallery. From that point forward, her paintings began to sell frequently.[2]

[edit] Success and media attention

The popularity of her work took off after her first gallery showing, with many of her paintings selling for tens of thousands of US dollars.

To many critics, what is most impressive about Marla's work is her ability to paint in layers and to fill the canvas, instead of painting in one layer and leaving most of the canvas blank, like other four-year olds. Marla's skill is so great that critics and media alike have drawn comparisons to abstract artists Wassily Kandinsky and the famed Jackson Pollock.[1] She has attracted media attention from The New York Times, Time magazine, CBS news, and BBC News.

[edit] Criticism

In February, 2005, a report by CBS News' 60 Minutes II raised questions about the many paintings attributed to Marla. 60 Minutes enlisted the help of Ellen Winner, a child psychologist who studies cognition in the arts and gifted children. Winner was impressed with Marla's work and indicated that Marla was the first child prodigy she'd seen paint abstractly. The Olmstead's agreed to permit CBS crews to set-up a hidden camera in their home to tape Marla painting a single piece in four hours over the course of a month. When Winner reviewed the tapes, the psychologist said, "I saw no evidence that she was a child prodigy in painting. I saw a normal, charming, adorable child painting the way preschool children paint, except that she had a coach that kept her going." Winner also indicated that the painting created before CBS's hidden camera looked as if it was completed by an entirely different artist. [3]

Marla's parents insist that the difference is due to conscious prodding of their daughter to paint in a particular place (where the camera was positioned) and at a particular time, instead of her normal, spontaneous creative process. Despite the negative publicity, Marla's work remains in demand, and the same painting that Marla unwittingly created before a hidden camera sold for $9,000. It and some of her other paintings were shown at the A-Stuart-Gallery in Encino, California, where Marla is now counted among the gallery's "permanent family of artists."[3][4]

It should also be noted that Olmstead has not demonstrated an ability to paint or draw recognizable figures or objects, instead focusing squarely on abstract canvases (she has not exhibited any still lifes, portraits, anatomical studies, figure drawings, etc.). It is unclear if she focuses on abstract painting because she chooses to, or because she lacks the ability to paint and draw in any other way.

In 2007 director Amir Bar-Lev's documentary 'My Kid Could Paint That' was bought by Sony Pictures Classics after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. The film examines Marla Olmstead, her family, and the controversy surrounding her art.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Child art prodigy wows New York BBC News, 29 September, 2004.
  2. ^ A Portrait Of the Artist As a Young Girl; Early Ability on Abstracts: 4-Year-Old Paints With Flair The New York Times Michelle York. September 28, 2004. (TimesSelect access required)
  3. ^ a b New Questions About Child Prodigy from 60 Minutes II
  4. ^ Is the child prodigy... a prodigy? blogcritics.com entry by art critic F. Lennox ("Lenny") Campello, March 01, 2005

[edit] External links

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