Meet Ace-Liam Ankrah, Ghanaian toddler who began painting at 6 months, sold 9 paintings at a museum exhibition, earned a Guinness World Records title at 1

Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah from Ghana was introduced to painting when he was just six years old. Before turning two, the toddler had displayed his paintings at a museum in Ghana and sold nine of the 10 works shown at the exhibition.

In May 2024, Guinness World Records recognised Ace-Liam as the world's youngest male artist. He was one year and 152 years old when this happened. However, the record had since been surpassed by John Christian Caldeira Weibull of Spain.

Here's how he achieved success

In December 2022, Ace-Liam's interest in painting began when he was learning to crawl. According to reports, his mother once placed a canvas and paints on the floor to keep him occupied while she was working. Then, Ace-Liam started playing and interacting with the colours and spreading paint across the canvas. Notably, in about 20 minutes, he created his first artwork. It which was later called 'The Crawl'. This thing later became his favourite thing to do.

What kind of painting does he create?

Ace-Liam works with acrylic paints and enjoys experimenting with colours and textures. According to his Guinness World Records profile, he likes blending colours with palms and prefers green and pink.

His paintings are abstract, with colours and shapes forming the main elements of the work. His mother has explained that the paintings show his curiosity, mood and enjoyment of discovering new things rather than specific messages.

During sessions, Ace-Liam chooses a canvas, colours, and brushes. His mother helps him during the sessions.

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When did people began buying his work?

Ace-Liam continued to created more paintings, and gradually people began buying his work. 10 of his paintings were displayed at an exhibition at the Museum of Science and Technology in December 2023.

Nine of the 10 paintings were sold within the first three days of the exhibition, according to Guinness World Records. The event gave the young artist an opportunity to present his work to a wider audience.

His mother later said that the former First Lady of Ghana also visited the exhibition and asked him to create a painting for her. Ace-Liam spent two weeks working on it, trying different techniques and colours. She liked the result and bought two more paintings.