[A.]

PAPERS ON DRAWING.

ART EDUCATION, AND THE TEACHING OF DRAWING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

[An Address delivered by Mr. WALTER SMITH, Professor of Art Education, and Head Master of the Normal Art School in the City of Boston, also State Director of Art Education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, before the Massachusetts State Teachers' Association, in Boston, Oct. 20, 1871.]

The occasion upon which I have the honor of appearing before you, is one of such rare occurrence, its importance educationally is so great, and the opportunity it gives me for the discharge of one of the first duties of my office so exceptionally timely, that I wish to depart from my usual custom in addressing extempore remarks upon the subject I have to treat; and, in order that I may neither waste your time by repetition, nor forget any connecting link in my discourse, I have written what I have to say, and will ask for your kindly attention and indulgence, whilst I read it to you.

In the presence of a body of educationists such as that I see before me, I need not do more than refer to the fact, that, by the law of Massachusetts, art education has been engrafted upon its far-famed system of public instruction, and henceforward will form a part, and, I hope and believe, no unimportant section of its excellent organization. Provision for the instruction in drawing of teachers and children in the Public Schools, and of adults in the night classes, either has been already made, or will be arranged for, as opportunities occur and teachers can be found. The passing of this law, and the efforts made to comply with it, will, it is supposed, create a desire for information concerning art education, of especial interest just now; and this must be the explanation of my being here to-day. Having been appointed by this city and the State to assist in their development of art education, I would take this opportunity of stating that I believe the choice of the Art authorities of the United Kingdom, upon the request of the school board of this city, fell upon me for recommendation to the appointments I now hold, because, though acquainted with the national system of my own country and of other European States, I am not committed to, nor do I wholly approve of,

any one of them, but believe in the construction of a system, in a country where the subject is new. We can adapt the good parts of all the old methods to the requirements of this country, and omit all the bad parts. And there can be no reason why the thoroughness which characterizes the general education of Massachusetts should not influence and give tone to any instruction in technical subjects which may be added to it. Whilst we may thus profit by the experience of other nations and older civilizations than our own, there will be many features of this country and of society so superior to theirs, and so much more favorable to the development and advancement of education, that I look forward to a future in which our field of art education shall, in no prominent part, be a reflex of others, but be a combination of excellences that will offer a model for their imitation.

So much of a general introduction I conceived to be necessary, before speaking practically on the subject we are about to consider. That subject, briefly described, is "Art Education, and the teaching of Drawing in Public Schools."

The kind of drawing which the State requires that its citizens shall have an opportunity of studying, is called "industrial drawing"; and wisely so called, for in that lies a justification of its public action in the matter.

It is so described, I apprehend, to distinguish it from those more ornamental or professional branches of art which people study rather as an amusement or gratification, or as a lucrative profession, than as an important element in the success of trades and manufactures. Economists are agreed that it fairly falls within the scope of government, in any civilized country, to initiate movements by which the trades or manufactures carried on by its subjects shall be improved in character and increased in value, and thus through a higher appreciation find a wider market for their consumption. The prosperity of the many is the argument upon which this agreement is founded. The principle thus acknowledged has led some of the most far-seeing and enlightened of modern governments to establish systems of art education, with a view of improving all branches of industrial trades and manufactures, having regard to the ultimate influence on production and sale, as well as increased value of exports and articles of home consumption. The success of these experiments has been so great that several European States at the present time owe their prosperity in no slight degree to the artistic excellence of their manufactures, brought about mainly by their cultivation of art education.

The time has arrived when the government of this State, and more especially of this city, has viewed the matter in the same light; and

thus we are upon the threshold of a new fabric,-a system of art education for the city and the State.

The means whereby such a system would be best organized to meet the requirements of all classes of society, and keep supply and demand in their true relationship, has been a great problem to the educationists of this locality, as it has been previously to the educationists of the Old World. There are three sections of the public to be educated, children, adult artisans, and the public generally, who come under neither of the two first divisions. How this has been provided for in most of the European States I may here shortly tell you. For children, elementary drawing is taught as a part of general education in all Public Schools; for adult artisans, night schools and classes have been established in almost all towns or populous villages; and for the general public, museums, galleries of art, and courses of public lectures on art subjects are becoming general. Upon the comparative value of these several means, there may be and is much difference of opinion; but upon one point there is a general agree→ ment, viz., that to make national art education possible, it must commence with the children in Public Schools.

After several unsuccessful experiments, that is the conclusion at which, twenty years ago, the educationists of Great Britain arrived, and the progress which has since been made in art education, and the consequent improvement of industrial art, is evidence enough that the problem had been solved, and that they were on the right track. To establish schools of art and art galleries, before the mass of the community were taught to draw, was like opening a university before people knew the alphabet; but to provide both of these agencies in conjunction with, or as a continuation of, the instruction in drawing in Public Schools, was like a logical sequence, going in rational order from strength to strength of an unbroken chain, from bud to branch and from branch to flower of natural educational growth.

Whilst England is appropriating all the features of the Massachusetts system of general education that are worth anything in Mr. Forster's scheme, we are borrowing from Great Britain, as well as from other countries, the most valuable portions of their experience in technical education; and I venture to prophesy that upon a better general basis we shall erect an infinitely better superstructure, so soon as the development of public opinion in this country will furnish us with the means for its accomplishment.

What has been done here in the way of instruction in night classes for adults, is sufficient to demonstrate the need of additional efforts, and has shown the extent of the field awaiting culture at our hands; and the fact that already a Boston Museum of Fine and Industrial

Art is on the way, and its foundations laid on a broad and comprehensive plan, is a final proof that eventually no feature of a perfect scheme will be wanting to complete the fabric of art education.

Though these secondary agencies are matters of interest in a con-sideration of the whole subject, it is not with them especially that we have the most to do upon this occasion.

The teaching of drawing in Public Schools is that phase of the question which most nearly interests you, and concerning which I have the most to say. How, with our present means, and in a reasonable time, is it to be brought about, and what can be done to make the teaching general?

Here, at this point, we are brought face to face with the same difficulty that has confronted the pioneers of art education elsewhere, viz., Who is to teach drawing in the Public Schools? and the question must be answered in the same way. To this there can be but one reply, which is, There can be no special teachers of drawing as a separate subject, any more than of writing or arithmetic as separate subjects; but the general teachers themselves must learn and teach elementary drawing to the children, in the same way they learn and teach other subjects. It will only be by having a teacher of drawing in every class-room in every school in the State, that all the children can be taught to draw; and this you will see can be accomplished only by making the general teachers include drawing among their subjects of instruction. That is how the difficulty has been met in other ⚫ countries, and is the only way possible of meeting it here. Now, if elementary drawing were either an abstruse subject, or as difficult of acquisition as a new language, it would seem something like a hardship that teachers, whose daily labor is so great and whose leisure is so scarce, should be expected to increase their labors and sacrifice their leisure to learn this new subject. But we have found in Europe that a valuable and sufficient power of drawing can be acquired, by teachers who have the desire to learn, in a comparatively short time, and without any very great sacrifice either of their leisure or their patience. At the present time, in the Boston Normal Art School the teachers of the city are receiving one lesson of one hour on alternate weeks, which, if they work out the exercises on each lesson, is in my opinion sufficient time to give; and I calculate that by next summer they will have passed through a course of instruction in two subjects, free-hand and model drawing, qualifying them to give their pupils lessons in the same.

Another year we shall take up the subjects of geometrical and perspective drawing; and though these subjects will entail a little more home work, they will be got through in the sessions of one year.

I can hardly suppose that you will deem such an amount of attendance on two courses of lessons as too great a price to pay for the qualification to teach elementary drawing; and I desire to inspire you with confidence in your own art powers, even if yet undeveloped, by saying that to those who are intimately acquainted with educational processes, as teachers must be, the labor of acquiring skill in drawing is reduced to a minimum, whilst the result is a practical certainty. As they have great experience in teaching other subjects, I have always found school-teachers, even with a very limited power of drawing, to make by far the best teachers of drawing; and what they themselves acquire without difficulty, they teach most successfully.

Drawing is in many respects like a language, a visible language, the language of form, having but two letters in its alphabet, the straight line and the curve; in this respect like our own written words, made up of combinations of straight and curved lines,-with this difference, that whilst a word suggests the name and thought, drawing suggests the thing itself. Both drawing and writing depend for attainment on the same faculty, the faculty of imitation; though drawing, being simpler in its elements than writing, is the most easy of acquirement. It has been amply demonstrated that every person who can be taught to write can be taught to draw; and where both are taught simultaneously, they assist each other,-success in one being a certain indication of success in both.

Infitative power is common to the human race, and exists in children before they can either walk or speak. It is developed so early that from the moment a child can hold a pencil, it may be taught to imitate by drawing the forms it sees. Those children whom it is found impossible to teach to write, it would be waste of time to attempt to teach to draw; for want of capacity in the first must proceed from some physical deficiency which would prove fatal also to success in drawing. But for the rest, who your own experience will convince you are a somewhat considerable majority, as soon as they begin to go to school, so soon should they begin learning to draw, and they will be found to take to and acquire it best who commence it earliest, and pursue it the most systematically through the whole school course. Neither is any special gift of more than usual taste required to enable persons to become excellent draughtsmen. It is a matter of mere conjecture whether such gifts exist at all; and it is certain if they do exist, their possession is of no account whatever, when compared with perseverance and a determination to succeed. The best draughtsmen I have known began to draw at about five years old or earlier; and it is a singular commentary on genius, which is supposed to be heaven-born, that those men who are most univer