Pablo Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon at the age of 26. Salvador Dalí stunned the world with his melting clocks in The Persistence of Memory at 27, while Michelangelo Buonarroti presented his David to the public when he was just 29.

All of these are classical works of art. All of them completed before the artists turned thirty. Beyond the obvious answer to the question “how did they achieve so much so young?”, namely innate talent, experts add that a key role was played by their early engagement with art from a very young age. All of them began practicing in childhood or early adolescence, building a strong foundation for their later development into artistic geniuses.

Here are some of the childhood masterpieces created by seven classic artists. A mini exhibition.

Salvador Dalí, 1914–1916, Fiesta in Figueres. Painted by the approximately 10-year-old Dalí.

Pablo Picasso, 1889–90, The Picador. Painted by the 10-year-old Picasso.

Edward Hopper, 1891, A Child Looking at the Sea. Painted by the 9-year-old Hopper.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1487, The Torment of Saint Anthony. Painted by the approximately 12-year-old Michelangelo.

Albrecht Dürer, 1484, Self-Portrait at the Age of 13

Paul Klee, 1883–85, Woman with Umbrella. Painted by the approximately 5-year-old Klee.

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1902, Hand. Painted by the 14-year-old O’Keeffe.