Fig. 23Fig. 23.
Yet while children's drawings are thus so far away from those reproductions of the look of a thing which we call pictures, they are after all a kind of rude art. Even the amusing errors which they contain, though a shock to our notions of pictorial semblance, have at least this point of analogy to art, that they aim at selecting and presenting what is characteristicand valuable. In many of the rude drawings with which we have here been occupied we may detect faint traces of individual originality, especially in the endeavour to give life and expression to the form. To this it is right to add that some drawings of young children from two to six which I have seen are striking proofs of the early development now and again of the artist's feeling for what is characteristic in line, and for the economic suggestiveness of a bare stroke (see Fig. 25 (a) and (b)). When once a child's eye is focussed for the prettiness of things the dawn of æsthetic perception is pretty sure to bring with it a more serious effort to reproduce their look. Among children, as among adults, it is love which makes the artist.
Fig. 24aFig. 24 (a).
Fig. 24bFig. 24 (b).
Fig. 25aFig. 25 (a) (drawn by a boy aged two years one month).Fig. 25bFig. 25 (b) (drawn by a girl of five and a half years).
Fig. 25aFig. 25 (a) (drawn by a boy aged two years one month).
Fig. 25bFig. 25 (b) (drawn by a girl of five and a half years).
FOOTNOTES[1]From a paper by Mrs. Robert Jardine.[2]The Invisible Playmate, p. 33 ff.[3]I owe this and other observations on the treatment of dolls to Dr. Stanley Hall's curious researches.[4]From an article on "The Philosophy of Dolls,"Chambers' Journal, 1881.[5]See my account of George Sand's childhood, inStudies of Childhood, chap. xii.[6]The Development of the Intellect(Appleton & Co.), p. 155.[7]I am indebted for these illustrations to an article by Dr. Stanley Hall on "The Contents of Children's Minds".[8]Mrs. Meynell gives an example of this in her volumeThe Children("The Man with Two Heads").[9]See his poem,Anecdote for Fathers, showing how the practice of lying may be taught. ("Poems referring to the period of childhood.")[10]From a published article by Mrs. Robert Jardine (compare above, pp. 16, 17).[11]Fig. 1 (a) is a drawing of a man by a child of twenty months, reproduced from Prof. M. Baldwin'sMental Development, p. 84; Fig. 1 (b) is a drawing of a man by a child of two years three months, reproduced from an article on children's drawings by Mr. H. T. Lukens inThe Pedagogical Seminary, vol. iv. (1896).[12]Reproduced from the article already referred to, by Mr. Lukens.[13]Fig. 9 (a) is a reproduction of a drawing of a girl of four and a half years, from Mr. Lukens' article.
[1]From a paper by Mrs. Robert Jardine.
[1]From a paper by Mrs. Robert Jardine.
[2]The Invisible Playmate, p. 33 ff.
[2]The Invisible Playmate, p. 33 ff.
[3]I owe this and other observations on the treatment of dolls to Dr. Stanley Hall's curious researches.
[3]I owe this and other observations on the treatment of dolls to Dr. Stanley Hall's curious researches.
[4]From an article on "The Philosophy of Dolls,"Chambers' Journal, 1881.
[4]From an article on "The Philosophy of Dolls,"Chambers' Journal, 1881.
[5]See my account of George Sand's childhood, inStudies of Childhood, chap. xii.
[5]See my account of George Sand's childhood, inStudies of Childhood, chap. xii.
[6]The Development of the Intellect(Appleton & Co.), p. 155.
[6]The Development of the Intellect(Appleton & Co.), p. 155.
[7]I am indebted for these illustrations to an article by Dr. Stanley Hall on "The Contents of Children's Minds".
[7]I am indebted for these illustrations to an article by Dr. Stanley Hall on "The Contents of Children's Minds".
[8]Mrs. Meynell gives an example of this in her volumeThe Children("The Man with Two Heads").
[8]Mrs. Meynell gives an example of this in her volumeThe Children("The Man with Two Heads").
[9]See his poem,Anecdote for Fathers, showing how the practice of lying may be taught. ("Poems referring to the period of childhood.")
[9]See his poem,Anecdote for Fathers, showing how the practice of lying may be taught. ("Poems referring to the period of childhood.")
[10]From a published article by Mrs. Robert Jardine (compare above, pp. 16, 17).
[10]From a published article by Mrs. Robert Jardine (compare above, pp. 16, 17).
[11]Fig. 1 (a) is a drawing of a man by a child of twenty months, reproduced from Prof. M. Baldwin'sMental Development, p. 84; Fig. 1 (b) is a drawing of a man by a child of two years three months, reproduced from an article on children's drawings by Mr. H. T. Lukens inThe Pedagogical Seminary, vol. iv. (1896).
[11]Fig. 1 (a) is a drawing of a man by a child of twenty months, reproduced from Prof. M. Baldwin'sMental Development, p. 84; Fig. 1 (b) is a drawing of a man by a child of two years three months, reproduced from an article on children's drawings by Mr. H. T. Lukens inThe Pedagogical Seminary, vol. iv. (1896).
[12]Reproduced from the article already referred to, by Mr. Lukens.
[12]Reproduced from the article already referred to, by Mr. Lukens.
[13]Fig. 9 (a) is a reproduction of a drawing of a girl of four and a half years, from Mr. Lukens' article.
[13]Fig. 9 (a) is a reproduction of a drawing of a girl of four and a half years, from Mr. Lukens' article.
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