Drawing lessons and the social policy of the Russian empire: the case of Lithuania

Straipsnyje aptariamas piešimo mokymas XIX a. antroje pusėje Rusijos imperijos ir į jos sudėtį įėjusios Lietuvos mokyklose. Į tyrimo objektą žvelgiama ne tik kaip į specifinę estetinio lavinimo problemą, bet ir kaip į sociokultūrinį fenomeną, amžininkų įsitikinimu, turėjusį atlikti svarbų vaidmenį pedagogikos modernizavimo, visuomenės ugdymo, amatų ir pramonės plėtros procesuose. Išryškinamas su piešimo mokymu sietų socialinių projektų utopiškumas, jų principinis neįgyvendinamumas ekonomiškai atsilikusioje biurokratinėje-policinėje valstybėje.This article analyses drawing lessons in the schools of the Russian Empire and Lithuania in the second half of the 19th century. The object of research is viewed not only as a sphere of aesthetic education but also as a sociocultural phenomenon which, as the contemporaries believed, had to play an important role in the modernization of the system of education and the development of crafts and industry. The abolition of serfdom in 1861 resulted in the emergence of great numbers of free manpower, thus the Imperial authorities faced an urgent task to restructure Russia’s economy. Moreover, as the country was joining in with the international market, it was necessary to increase the competitiveness of industrial production. The latter circumstance was accountable for the promotion of technical training. As visual education was considered the basis of technical skills, issues related to the teaching of art were listed among the most urgent problems in the reorganization of vocational training. Establishment of drawing schools intended for craftsmen and industrial workers was initiated in various regions of the Russian Empire. Vilnius Drawing School, opened in 1866 under the management of Ivan Trutnev, a graduate of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts, was among the first institutions of the type. The reasons behind its establishment were both economic and political. It was intended at strengthening the third class, encouraging noblemen to take up crafts and (indirectly) weakening the positions of the former elite of the region. The school, however, soon distanced itself from the initial objectives and focused on the traditional fine arts. This process was determined by weak local industrial capacities, prevailing conservative beliefs of the region’s society, and the attitude of the government which degraded the school to the level of a peripheral underprivileged institution. Thus, instead of strengthening the ranks of manufacturers, Vilnius Drawing School helped promote the elite culture in the western governorates. The idea of drawing was important in the reorganization of both vocational and general education. The second half of the 19th century saw the rise of the so-called new school in Europe and the USA. The educational movement, which focused on the training methods based on the direct visual experience of the child and handwork, attributed drawing to the most important subjects. The ideas of the new school which advocated against the abstract, book-based teaching spread quickly around the Russian Empire. However, under the political conditions of the Empire, the modern model of education, aimed at the development of a creative democratic society, could only function as a theoretical guideline. From this point of view the situation in Lithuania, where the tsarist regime was particularly harsh, was exceptionally unfavourable. Therefore the modernization of the drawing methods, as well as those of the school system as a whole, in the Lithuanian governorates was partial and inconsistent. Nevertheless, despite the disappointments related to the practical application of the new drawing training methods, the second half of the 19th century can be considered an important stage in the development of education in Lithuania. It should not be underestimated that at that time educators of Vilnius Education District started framing art education related issues akin to those pointed out by specialists in most European countries. A most important thing was that problems pertaining to drawing lessons at school, which hitherto had been interpreted in the narrow perspective of particular aesthetic tasks, were rendered social significance. The society became aware of the necessity of visual literacy: as children learn to speak and write, they have to learn to understand and convey images. Drawing was regarded as an important factor in the formation of the personality and development of its productive capacities. The ideas that emerged prior to WWI, were developed in Lithuanian schools of general and vocational education throughout the entire 20th century