Summary
Creator
- Lowenfeld, Viktor (Person)
Abstract
Viktor Lowenfeld (1903-1960) was a Viennese artist, scholar, psychologist, educator, prolific writer and speaker, and professor of art and art education.
Dates
- Creation: 1880-1985
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1930-1955
Extent
10.6 Linear Feet
Background
Biographical / Historical
Viktor Lowenfeld (1903-1960) was a Viennese artist, scholar, psychologist, educator, prolific writer and speaker, and professor of art and art education. Born in Linz, Austria, he graduated from the College of Applied Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. While teaching, he earned a doctorate in education from the University of Vienna (1928), and served as the director of art in the Blind Institute. He fled to the United States around the time that his first book The Nature of Creative Activity (1939) was published in English. In the United States, he taught at Hampton Institute (1939-1947), establishing its art department. He is known primarily for his scholarship on creativity and his textbook on art education, Creative and Mental Growth, published in 1947, about the time he transferred to Penn State. There he taught art education in the Department of Home Economics from 1946 until 1957 when the Department of Art Education was created.
Scope and Contents
Collection consists of artwork including photographs of sculptures from Austrian children--blind and sighted, visual and haptic, as well as children's artwork from American psychiatric hospitals, schools for the blind, public schools, and Penn State Saturday art classes. Adult student artwork, including works by Charles White, John Biggers, and Samella Lewis, comes from the Hampton Institute and Penn State. In addition, there are two clay sculptures, manuscripts for Creative and Mental Growth and other notes and writings, lectures, correspondence, photographs, digital audio recordings of lectures from 1958 (transcribed and published by John Michaels in 1982, as The Lowenfeld Lectures), biographical material, and personal items.
Physical Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Penn State University Libraries catalog via the link above. Archival collections may be housed in offsite storage. For materials stored offsite, please allow 2-3 business days for retrieval.
Processing Information
Processed by Special Collections staff.
Subjects
- Art Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Art works Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Children's art Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Higher education Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Names
Creator
- Lowenfeld, Viktor (Person)
Subject
- Lowenfeld, Viktor (Person)
Using These Materials
Repository Details
Part of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library Repository
104 Paterno Library
Penn State University
University Park 16802 USA
(814) 865-1793
spcollections@psu.edu
Conditions Governing Access
For information on accessing this collection please contact the Special Collections Research Services Unit at spcollections@psu.edu.
Conditions Governing Use
Photocopies of original materials may be made available for research purposes at the discretion of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library. Photocopies or reproductions of original materials may be subject to fees as outlined by the Pennsylvania State University Libraries reproduction policies. Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Patrons seeking advice on the availability of unpublished materials for publication should consult relevant copyright law and laws of libel.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Viktor Lowenfeld papers, 00587, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
- Title
- Guide to the Viktor Lowenfeld papers
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Prepared by Special Collections Library faculty/staff
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2021: As part of bulk updates, Benjamin Mitchell updated standardized notes to current standard