HER grandfather, Pro Hart, was a legendary Australian artist known as the father of outback painting. And at 16, Chloe Hart is following in his footsteps, carving out a successful career as a painter.
The talented high-school student has already made a tiny fortune from the sale of two dozen paintings – the first when she was just 11.
“My first painting I sold was a beach painting. Since then I have sold about 24 paintings. It’s good to be able to let out all my creativity through art,” the teenager said.
“There are a lot of artists that have inspired me over the years – my dad, my grandfather and some of the other greats whose paintings I’ve grown up around,” said Chloe, whose father is also a renowned artist and gallery owner – David Hart.
While she is proud to be continuing the family tradition, her style is distinctive – abstract, bright and dynamic, different from her grandfather’s rural landscapes and colourful depiction of Australian life, such as miners at work.
Savvy investors are quickly snapping up her paintings, predicting they’ll be worth a lot more than $990 each in 10 years.
But it’s not always easy for Chloe, who attends Suncoast Christian College on the Sunshine Coast, to find time to paint.
“A painting can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to complete,” she said.
“I paint when I can. Holidays are usually the easiest because I don’t have homework but I do like to go down to my studio after school sometimes when the workload’s not too bad.”
While Chloe sold her first work at a tender age, her grandfather had to wait much longer to find fame. Pro Hart was discovered in 1962, when he was 34.
He became a household name when he starred in a television commercial. The colourful artist created a wine and spaghetti painting on a carpet – only for a cleaning lady to exclaim: “Oh Mr Hart, what a mess!” and wipe it all off.
