The Juvenile Art Classes opened in 1897 in Austria and lasted until the 1930s. The program of the classes was: "Let the children grow, develop and mature". Through William Viola's books on Cizek's methods, we learn about his practices and praise of what he considered the natural creative child. Just for the 'slogan' of the classes, we can see how the gardening practices of education informed his thought. Cizek was a traveling author through the works of art educators like Marion Richardson, R. R. Tomlinson, and Herbert Read. For him, the child came into the world as a creator, and everything in her life was imagination. As such, the child should be protected from the nefast influences of the adult world.
Creating the dispositive of child art, Cizek was creating a straightening device for children, in which they had to learn how to be creative children according to a specific reasoning. Viola described his role in the classes and stated that Cizek was totally 'retired in the background'. However, an attentive reading of the methods and transcriptions of talks and exercises reveals a different situation. Paul Duncum already wrote about the 'subtle control' exercised by Cizek. We read it as part of governmentality and the operationalization of the technologies of the self.
As an observer, the teacher would be the gaze of approval or reproval of the child's conduct, and children would learn how to conduct themselves in the 'right' ways.
An extract from 25th April 1936
"Cizek: What would you like to do? Child: I should like to do a sunset. Child: I should like to do a zebra talking to a horse. Cizek: Before you go to sleep at night you have many beautiful ideas, and in the morning when you rise, many things occur to you. Then you turn over in bed and think: How shall I draw that? - Now, this is the way to think, and you must tell me afterwards. And you should not be like pupils who wait until the teacher asks them to do a certain thing. You must think for yourselves until something occurs to you. Child: I should like to do a woman buying flowers. Child: I should like to draw the Schönbrunn Zoo with all the animals. Cizek: You haven't sufficient space for that. We want to draw large. Child: I should like to make Rübezahl. Cizek: That's again something out of a picture-book. [...] Cizek: T. will do his Negus, and the others will make a spring festival. Children are dancing in a meadow, decorated with flowers, flowers in their hair and in their hands. They are jumping over flowers. Everything is full of flowers. And we shan't make little fleas, but large figures, so that we can learn something whilst drawing. The girls skip around and throw flowers at each other. Everywhere there are flowers. Now quickly!"
CM
The Juvenile Art Classes opened in 1897 and lasted until the 1930s. The program of the classes was: "Let the children grow, develop and mature". Through William Viola's books on Cizek's methods, we learn about his practices and praise of what he considered the natural creative child. Just for the 'slogan' of the classes, we can see how the gardening practices of education informed his thought. Cizek was a traveling author through the works of art educators like Marion Richardson, R. R. Tomlinson, and Herbert Read. For him, the child came into the world as a creator, and everything in her life was imagination. As such, the child should be protected from the nefast influences of the adult world. Creating the dispositive of child art, Cizek was creating a straightening device for children, in which they had to learn how to be creative children according to a specific reasoning. Viola described his role in the classes and stated that Cizek was totally retired in the background. However, an attentive reading of the methods and transcriptions of talks and exercises reveals a different situation. Paul Duncum already wrote about the 'subtle control' exercised by Cizek. We read it as part of governmentality and the operationalization of the technologies of the self. As an observer, the teacher would be the gThe Juvenile Art Classes opened in 1897 and lasted until the 1930s. The program of the classes was: "Let the children grow, develop and mature". Through William Viola's books on Cizek's methods, we learn about his practices and praise of what he considered the natural creative child. Just for the 'slogan' of the classes, we can see how the gardening practices of education informed his thought. Cizek was a traveling author through the works of art educators like Marion Richardson, R. R. Tomlinson, and Herbert Read. For him, the child came into the world as a creator, and everything in her life was imagination. As such, the child should be protected from the nefast influences of the adult world.
Creating the dispositive of child art, Cizek was creating a straightening device for children, in which they had to learn how to be creative children according to a specific reasoning. Viola described his role in the classes and stated that Cizek was totally 'retired in the background'. However, an attentive reading of the methods and transcriptions of talks and exercises reveals a different situation. Paul Duncum already wrote about the 'subtle control' exercised by Cizek. We read it as part of governmentality and the operationalization of the technologies of the self.
As an observer, the teacher would be the gaze of approval it reproval of the child's conduct, and children would learn how to conduct themselves in the 'right' ways.
An extract from 25th April 1936
"Cizek: What would you like to do? Child: I should like to do a sunset. Child: I should like to do a zebra talking to a horse. Cizek: Before you go to sleep at night you ave many beautiful ideas, and in the morning when you rise, many things occur to you. Then you turn over in bed and think: How shall I draw that? - Now, this is the way to think, and you must tell me afterwards. And you should not be like pupils who wait until the teacher asks them to do a certain thing. You must think for yourselves until something occurs to you. Child: I should like to do a woman buying flowers. Child: I should like to draw the Schönbrunn Zoo with all the animals. Cizek: You haven't sufficient space for that. We want to draw large. Child: I should like to make Rübezahl. Cizek: That's again something out of a picture-book. [...] Cizek: T. will do his Negus, and the others will make a spring festival. Children are dancing in a meadow, decorated with flowers, flowers in their hair and in their hands. They are jumping over flowers. Everything is full of flowers. And we shan't make little fleas, but large figures, so that we can learn something whilst drawing. The girls skip around and throw flowers at each other. Everywhere there are flowers. Now quickly!"aze of approval or reproval of the child's conduct, and children would learn how to conduct themselves in the 'right' ways.
An extract from 25th April 1936
"Cizek: What would you like to do? Child: I should like to do a sunset. Child: I should like to do a zebra talking to a horse. Cizek: Before you go to sleep at night you ave many beautiful ideas, and in the morning when you rise, many things occur to you. Then you turn over in bed and think: How shall I draw that? - Now, this is the way to think, and you must tell me afterwards. And you should not be like pupils who wait until the teacher asks them to do a certain thing. You must think for yourselves until something occurs to you. Child: I should like to do a woman buying flowers. Child: I should like to draw the Schönbrunn Zoo with all the animals. Cizek: You haven't sufficient space for that. We want to draw large. Child: I should like to make Rübezahl. Cizek: That's again something out of a picture-book. [...] Cizek: T. will do his Negus, and the others will make a spring festival. Children are dancing in a meadow, decorated with flowers, flowers in their hair and in their hands. They are jumping over flowers. Everything is full of flowers. And we shan't make little fleas, but large figures, so that we can learn something whilst drawing. The girls skip around and throw flowers at each other. Everywhere there are flowers. Now quickly!"