ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on Pictures for Schools, an art patronage scheme established in postwar Britain by the artist and educationalist Nan Youngman (1906–1995) to sell affordable works of art to educational establishments. Highlighting the use of works of art as a pedagogical tool, Pictures for Schools is contextualised within a wider programme of visual education, which encouraged citizens to be critical observers of the places and objects which surrounded them everyday in postwar Britain. The paper explores the ways in which artworks offered children a critical education across two types of educational spaces, the classroom and the art gallery. Using material from Youngman’s archives, it visits a series of educational spaces where, in the decade leading up to the Second World War, and influenced by the educationalists Marion Richardson and Henry Morris, Youngman established the the value of the active, participatory form of art education she later promoted through Pictures for Schools. The paper then explores the ways in which Pictures for Schools worked to develop children’s skills as critical observers. At the first Pictures for Schools exhibition, held in 1947 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, children voted for their favourite exhibit. At later exhibitions, held annually until 1969, children were given questionnaires which encouraged them to look closely at the artworks. This paper argues that in doing this, Pictures for Schools aimed to develop the critical capacities of future citizens who were asked to play an active part in postwar reconstruction and society.

摘要

本文重点介绍“学校图片”，这是一项由艺术家和教育家 Nan Youngman（1906-1995）在战后英国建立的艺术赞助计划，旨在向教育机构出售负担得起的艺术作品。强调使用艺术作品作为教学工具，学校图片在更广泛的视觉教育计划中融入了背景，该计划鼓励公民成为战后英国每天围绕他们的地方和物体的批判性观察者。该论文探讨了艺术作品如何在教室和美术馆这两种教育空间中为儿童提供批判性教育。使用 Youngman 档案中的材料，它访问了一系列教育空间，在第二次世界大战前的十年中，在教育家 Marion Richardson 和 Henry Morris 的影响下，Youngman 确立了积极参与的艺术形式的价值她后来通过学校图片促进了教育。该论文随后探讨了学校图片的方式致力于培养孩子们作为批判性观察者的技能。在1947 年在伦敦维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆举办的第一届学校图片展上，孩子们投票选出了他们最喜欢的展览。在后来的展览中，每年举办一次，直到 1969 年，孩子们收到了问卷，鼓励他们仔细观察艺术品。本文认为，在此过程中，学校图片旨在培养未来公民的批判能力，他们被要求在战后重建和社会中发挥积极作用。