Advait Kolarkar has been fascinated with colours on a canvas ever since he was a toddler. One day, his mother Shruti found him sprawled on the floor with her water colours, splashing a variety of colours on the floor. “He told me he was trying to paint galaxies and dinosaurs. He confidently pointed at the stars he had drawn,” Shruti said in a phone conversation from Canada.
Being a commercial artist, she realised that what he was painting could be abstract art and approached an art gallery owner in Pune, where they lived back in 2016. He thought the pieces were brilliant and made arrangements for a solo exhibition to showcase his work. The exhibition was a success and Advait received a lot of praise from the art fraternity.
Soon after, Advait’s family moved to Canada. At the age of four, he became the youngest artist to have a solo exhibit at the Saint John Arts Centre in Canada. His work was also displayed at the New York Art Expo in April. An honour that is bestowed upon only well-established artists. “Artists who were showcasing their work at the expo came up to us and showered praises on Adavit’s work. They told us that they had heard a lot about him, which pleasantly surprised us because these were well-known artists,” said Shruti.
Advait’s paintings sell for thousands of dollars. But, his parents make sure he knows the value of money and keep him grounded by making him realise the need to donate his earnings to charities. They hope this will keep him grounded in future. As for taking art as career that is for Advait to decide when he grows up. For now, he’s a happy four-year-old who dabbles with paint like a pro.
