Anton Ehrenzweig, the Artist Teacher and a Psychoanalytic Approach to School Art Education

Abstract

In the 1960s Anton Ehrenzweig devised an experimental course for school art teachers based on his deep knowledge of British psychoanalytic theory, especially Melanie Klein’s ideas of projection and introjection. Ehrenzweig’s early advocacy for the idea of an artist teacher, which formed a key element of his Art Teachers Certificate course at Goldsmiths, could be seen as ahead of its time, anticipating some of the ideas and practices of the past couple of decades. However, his claim that good teachers use their pupils as a medium for the teacher’s own creativity raises ethical questions that still resonate today. In this article, I will draw out some comparisons between Ehrenzweig’s theories of creativity and art education, and recent writing on the artist teacher. I will consider ways in which Ehrenzweig’s development of Kleinian psychoanalytic theory can both complement and challenge current thinking about the merging and differentiation of artist, teacher and student identities.