R.R. Tomlinson was a Senior Inspector of Art to the London County Council. The book was published in 1947, and the author starts by saying that the book's title would have been facetious one generation ago. He was referring to how most adults, even art educators, would have received children’s drawings and paints. However, “owing to the courage and tenacity of pioneer teachers (he will be quoting, among others, Friedrich Froebel, Wesley Dow, Thomas Ablett, Marion Richardson, Franz Cizek) and the fuller understanding by the general public of modern developments in painting, all but a few will today accept the title of this book without question.” Tomlinson continued his writing by articulating the argument that since the last decades of the 19th century, have been fabricated to make sense of children’s artistic productions and development: the equation of the child’s graphic marks with those deemed primitive.’ Studying children's art was said to be essential to know more about the history of the race and the adult's mind. The process implied generalization, objectification, and simplification, translating the epistemic and cognitive violence inherent to arts education discursivities. He wrote:
“The similarity between the unsophisticated work of children today in all civilised counters and that of primitive peoples leads to the conclusion that the means and modes of expression in both graphics and plastic forms are inherent in the human race. The recapitulation theory, the belief that the development of the child follows somewhat the same course as the history of the race, may or may not have been conclusively vindicated, but it seems true that in dealing with children we are dealing with little primitive people. The term 'primitive' is used with reference to two distinct groups. It is used by the ethnographer to describe uncivilised people, and by the art historian to denote the early stages of a well defined school of painting. When used n the latter sense it is most commonly applied to the Italian school at the time of Cimabue and Giotto. Primitives of both groups, however, resemble children in one essential respect: n their artistic urge to explore with zeal entirely new paths untutored and unaided”.
The child’s development was mirrored through the recapitulationist theories; the history of humanity was explained through the figure of the child; and the equation of the child and the ‘primitive’ (and the ‘primitive’ as a child) created the conceptual space in which they were put as inferior, yet seductive, and governable.
CM
Comments
child art; primtivisme
"The similarity between the unsophisticated work of children today in all civilised counters and that of primitive peoples leads to the conclusion that the means and modes of expression in both graphics and plastic forms are inherent in the human race. The recapitulation theory, the belief that the development of the child follows somewhat the same course as the history of the race, may or may not have been conclusively vindicated, but it seems true that in dealing with children we are dealing with little primitive people. The term 'primitive' is used with reference to two distinct groups. It is used by the ethnographer to describe uncivilised people, and by the art historian to denote the early stages of a well defined school of painting. When used n the latter sense it is most commonly applied to the Italian school at the time of Cimabue and Giotto. Primitives of both groups, however, resemble children in one essential respect: n their artistic urge to explore with zeal entirely new paths untutored and unaided" (pp. 4, 5)
(Tomlinson wrote a forward…
(Tomlinson wrote a forward for Wilhelm Viola 1936 book on Franz Cizek. Tomlinson was senior inspector of art to the London County Council)
"The similarity between the unsophisticated work of children today in all civilised countries and that of primitive peoples leads to the conclusion that the means // and modes of expression in both graphics and plastic forms are inherent in the human race. The recapitulation theory, the belief that the development of the child follows somewhat the same course as the history of the race, may or may not have been conclusively vindicated, but it seems true that in dealing with children we are dealing with little primitive people. The term 'primitive' is used with reference to two distinct groups. It is used by the ethnographer to describe uncivilised people, and by the art historian to denote the early stages of a well defined school of painting. When used in the latter sense it is most commonly applied to the Italian school at the time of Cimabue and Giotto. Primitives of both groups, however, resemble children in one essential respect: in their artistic urge to explore with zeal entirely new paths untutored and unaided" (pp. 4, 5)
"A study of the work of primitive people shows the urge to draw and create is innate. It is vitally important, therefore, that this form of expression should not only be allowed to grow naturally but be encouraged and fostered. This innate urge in a child to draw and create is a precious inheritance, the value of which has not yet been fully realised by the education authorities; neither has the beneficial effect of its encouragement upon other forms of expression and growth been apprehended by them sufficiently" (p.6)
"During the long period under consideration, thought which the ideas of the teacher // were imposed upon the child, a few enlightened pioneers, teachers and in particular psychologists, had been busily engaged in experiment and research. They refused to ignore the natural instincts, interests and tendencies of the child" (pp. 12, 13)
Tomlinson stresses the importance of psychology to the development of progressive arts education and recommends the reading of G. Stanley Hall (Educational Problems), Cyril Burt (Mental and Scholastic Tests) and Ballard (The Journal of Experimental Pedagogy, vol.I, nº3, and vol. II, nº 2)
In terms of pioneer teachers, refers: Wesley Dow (USA), Froebel, Thomas Ablett, and R. Catterson Smith (Professor of Marion Richardson), but it is to Cizek that the focus is directed. A few pages are also dedicated to Marion Richardson.