Session Information
Contribution
In this presentation I will attempt an examination of the emergence of the theory of Child Art at the beginning of 20th century. The reason for this examination is dictated by the fact that the so-called 'child art' notion persists to be one of the most potent theories and practices in the context of modern art education. It is considered therefore imperative that art teachers and researchers of education acknowledge the historical identity as well as necessity of this theory and in this way, be able to evaluate its role in the contemporary art education scene. In this examination I will adopt a twofold approach: Firstly, the notion of child art will be examined vis-à-vis the concurrent developments in Modern European art especially the attempts for a non-representational expressive form. The attraction to children's artistic work will therefore be related to the fascination with the primitive and the 'pure' as that which escapes the over-elaborated academism of European art history, a tendency that dominated artistic scene at the turn of the century. Testimony to this historical tendency will be the declarations of many known adherents of modernism such as Picasso, Matisse, and Kandinsky etc. Their artistic endeavors will be studied as illustrations of the two-way influence between children's drawings and modern art. Reference will also be made to the work of the first art educators (Richardson, Cizek etc) who introduced the idea of the child as a self-sufficient artist with a right to self-expression, therefore responsible for the expression 'child art'. Secondly, the notion of child art will be studied as the subject of a specific tradition of inquiry as the various researches employed during 20th century indicate. Reference will be made to the most prominent researchers of children's drawings and paintings such as Piaget, Goodenough, Lowenfeld, Arnheim and Freeman. This part of the examination is understood as a historical survey of different theories of children's work, which contrast, challenge or expand the child art notion. This examination is also understood as equipping the contemporary researcher with background knowledge against which he/she can once more address the question on whether children's work bares just a phenomenal similarity to what we understand as modern aesthetic or has more serious claims to aesthetic value.
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