Patterns of artistic development

by Constance Milbrath

This book traces the development of artistic talent from early childhood to adolescence through a series of studies that look comparatively at development in talented and less talented populations. It presents a model of artistic talent that attributes individual differences to the figurative abilities of talented children. The model proposes that artistic talent results from the continual coordination of heightened figurative abilities with conceptual processes throughout a period critical in semiotic development. The studies focus on the development of form, spatial relationships, and composition in children's artwork. Milbrath's theory is richly supported by original examples of children's artwork.