The Child as Visual Artist

This Element focuses on the development of drawing (and painting) in childhood. The author begins by examining children’s representational drawing, a topic that has received quite wide attention from the nineteenth century on. The author then turns to issues that have received far less attention and discusses the aesthetic property of expression, weighing the claim that young children’s highly expressive drawings bear an affinity to twentieth century modernist art. The author then examines the function of drawing for children’s emotional development. Next, looking at art prodigies, the author turns to the how of drawing, considering the relation of drawing talent to IQ and to visual-spatial skills. Finally, the author considers the relation between development and education in art and how educators can best nurture children’s artistic development.