A four-year-old artist opened her first gallery in New York on the weekend to much critical acclaim.

Aelita Andre's work has attracted plenty of attention due to her vibrant abstract pieces on huge canvases.

It is the highly defined style of her work that sets the Australian girl apart from her contemporaries, as director of the exhibition, Angela Di Bello, explains.

"She's special, in that, she really knows what she's doing, in that, she understands colour, composition, texture," Di Bello told Britain's Sky News.

"If you look at her paintings, you'll see that they are balanced. She's very, very consistent in her work, so she's already developed a style that is hers."

Nine pieces have already gone for up to £6,000 each, making her the youngest ever selling artist.

"There's no education, no understanding of art history or art movements, no intimidation, thinking 'I'm in the shadow of Picasso or Pollock,'" father Michael told UK newspaper the Telegraph.

Aelita's mother, Nikka, told the newspaper: "I'm really scared to influence her in anyway. I'm really scared that when she grows up she will develop something like 'Oh, I can't use this colour with that colour because it doesn't go.'"

Emerging talents can offer tremendous entry-level buys for both art lovers and investors but it remains to be seen whether collecting Aelita's pieces will be a viable alternative investment. If she continues to progress and remains popular into adulthood, these early works could be worth a fortune in years to come.

Aelita is following in the brushstrokes of such luminaries as Picasso, who painted his Picador at the age of eight.

More recently, works by Marla Olmstead, born in 2000, sold for more than $20,000 before controversy regarding the amount of assistance she received emerged.