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Abstract
Born in Austria in 1903, Viktor Lowenfeld became a pivotal figure in art education. In the United States, he lectured at Harvard and Columbia universities and taught at other American schools. At Pennsylvania State University, he developed the first art education department and a graduate art program for research in art education. His most famous text, Creative and Mental Growth (1947), delineated his motivational techniques and theories of art development, which correlated with a child's chronological age. They were the scribbling, preschematic, schematic, gang age, pseudonaturalistic stages, and the period of decision. Although Lowenfeld's critics cited his theoretical short-comings, his theories continued to provide a structural assistance to art educators and therapists to understand children's art development. I have described a survey conducted in six Western European countries to suggest the need for research in the present-day applicability of Lowenfeld's theories cross-culturally and worldwide.
Introduction
Viktor Lowenfeld was a pivotal figure in art education. Well known for his theories in art development, he wrote and lectured on art education therapy and acknowledged the therapeutic aspects of art. During the last sixty years, Lowenfeld's stages have been both revered and even criticized, so his theories continue to provide a structure to assist art educators and art therapists to understand children's art development. Art therapists have adapted Lowenfeld's theories to aid their understanding of children's and adolescents' growth in social, emotional, intellectual, and kinesthetic expression (Ferrara, 1991; Kiendl, Hooyenga, & Trenn, 1997). Their knowledge of Lowenfeld's stages has proved applicable as a part of assessment. (Dunn-Snow & D'Amelio, 2000; Henley, 1992; Kiendl, Hooyenga, & Trenn, 1997; Rubin, 1999). However, art therapists may not have been cognizant of the limitations of stage theories as well as the need to question the viability of Lowenfeld's stages on a worldwide basis.
Gantt (1998) asked if any art therapist thought to challenge or replicate Lowenfeld's findings. To that end, I have described a survey conducted in six Western European countries. I narrowed its focus to children whose age range corresponded to Lowenfeld's preschematic and schematic stages of art development: approximately ages four through nine.
Lowenfeld's Background
Criticisms by art educators and developmental specialists regarding Lowenfeld's background and theories were two areas on which I focused. The literature provided...