Artist Sells $7M in Paintings Before Age 14

When six-year-old Autumn de Forest set up her first art booth, everyone assumed the paintings belonged to her dad. The tiny artist from Las Vegas had to keep explaining that she was the one behind the canvas.

What started as curiosity at age five became a career that defied expectations. By eight, Autumn appeared on the Discovery Health Channel. By her early teens, she was painting for Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Her daily routine at 14 looked nothing like a typical teenager's life. Autumn woke at 7:30 a.m., painted for two hours, completed her online schoolwork, then returned to her studio for another three to four hours before dinner. Most brick-and-mortar schools couldn't accommodate her international travel schedule for exhibitions.

The art world didn't welcome her with open arms. Critics questioned whether her work was actually good or just impressive for a child. Some even suggested the whole thing might be fake.

Autumn let her work answer the doubters. Her paintings sold for up to $25,000 each, generating over $7 million by her teenage years. She donated much of those proceeds directly to charities and disaster relief funds.

In 2015, she received the International Giuseppe Sciacca Award and met Pope Francis for a private showing. At 16, she joined former First Lady Michelle Obama's President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, traveling to underprivileged schools nationwide to lead painting workshops.

The Ripple Effect

Autumn saw something troubling during those school visits. Disadvantaged schools treated art as an afterthought, cutting programs that could help kids discover hidden talents. "There could be child prodigies in these schools, but they don't know that they have this God-given gift," she told Teen Vogue in 2017.

She turned that concern into action. The Autumn de Forest Foundation now tracks students she's mentored over the years and supports their art careers. A portion goes into 529 college savings accounts, while 10% goes directly to the students. Even a few thousand dollars could mean the difference between attending college or not.

Now 24 and living in Los Angeles, Autumn continues creating and exhibiting with Park West Gallery, the world's largest art dealer. Her latest solo exhibition ran through September at the Park West Soho Gallery. She's appeared in a Shawn Mendes and Khalid music video with 88 million YouTube views, been named one of Teen Vogue's "21 Under 21," and shares her latest work with followers on Instagram.

The girl who had to convince people she actually painted those pictures is now making sure the next generation of young artists gets the opportunities she fought for.