Little Ghanaian Named World’s Youngest Male Artist

Little Ghanaian Named World’s Youngest Male Artist

Some people seem to be born with skill for making art. Ace-Liam Ankrah of Ghana is a good example. He recently set a world record for his painting and he is not even two years old.

Last week, the Guinness Book of World Records named little Ace-Liam the world’s youngest male artist.

His mother, Chantelle Kukua Eghan, says the baby’s art started by accident when her son discovered her acrylic paints. He was six months old at the time.

Eghan is 25 years old and is an artist, herself, and founder of Arts and Cocktails Studio in Ghana’s capital, Accra. The business offers drinks and painting lessons. Eghan said she was looking for a way to keep her boy busy while working on her own paintings.

“I spread out a canvas on the floor and added paint to it, and then in the process of crawling he ended up spreading all the colors on the canvas.”

And that is how his first artwork, The Crawl, was born, Eghan told the Associated Press.

Chantelle Kuukua Eghan, 25, gives paint to her son Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah, who will turn two in July, at her mother's art gallery in Accra, Ghana, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

After that, and with his mother’s support, Ace-Liam continued making paintings.

Eghan decided to apply for the record from Guinness a year ago. In November 2023, the organization told her that to break a record her son needed to publicly show and sell his paintings.

She set up Ace-Liam’s first show at the Museum of Science and Technology in Accra in January. She entered 10 of his paintings and nine sold.

Then, Guinness World Records made the announcement, declaring, “at the age of one year 152 days, little Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah from Ghana is the world’s youngest male artist.”

Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah, who will turn two in July, paints amidst his own art work at his mother's art gallery in Accra, Ghana, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

The overall record for the world’s youngest artist is currently held by India’s Arushi Bhatnagar. She had her first exhibition at the age of 11 months and sold her first painting for $60 in 2003.

Ace-Liam will be two years old in July. He still loves painting and joining his mom in her art space, where he has his own work area. He sometimes paints for just five minutes at a time, returning to the same canvas over days or weeks, Eghan says.

On a recent day, he ran around the workspace with energy usual for children his age. But he also painted for almost an hour, his small fingers spreading the paint on the canvas.

Eghan says becoming a world record holder has not changed their lives. She will not sell The Crawl, she says. She wants to keep it in the family.

She also says she hopes the media attention around her boy would push other parents to discover and support skills their children may have.

Of Ace-Liam, she added, “He is painting and growing and playing in the whole process.”

I’m Jill Robbins.

Francis Kokutse reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

acrylic – n. a material that is made from a chemical process and that is used for making many different products (such as clothing and paints)

canvas – n. a specially prepared piece of cloth on which a picture can be painted by an artist

crawl – v. to move on your hands and knees

apply – v. to ask formally for something (such as a job, admission to a school, or a loan) usually in writing