Aesthetic Empathy in Teaching Art to Children: The Work of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis in Terezin

Abstract

This article examines the teaching approach of art educator Friedl Dicker-Brandeis as a historical antecedent to the art therapy profession. Dicker-Brandeis's philosophy and her specific methods of teaching art to children in the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia between 1942 and 1944 are described. The influence of the Bauhaus philosophy and teachers such as Itten, Klee, and Kandinsky can be traced through Dicker-Brandeis's pedagogy, with an aesthetic grounded in empathy. Aesthetic empathy was the doctrine that informedDicker-Brandeis's art education and later, in the Terezin concentration camp, her art teaching. This legacy is part of the history of art therapy and may contribute to shaping future theory and practice.

An art therapy study of visitor reactions to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

“…Making art about one's feelings and perceptions of an event, person, or life experience promotes opportunities for engagement and empathy (Wix 2009). Referred to as response art, such intentional art making that is focused on an object or person contributes to 'empathic resonance' (Franklin 2010, 166) through initiating an 'interpretive dialog' (Moon 2009, 119).…”

Re-Presenting Trauma: The Witness Function in the Art of the Holocaust

“…In a similar vein, Wix (2009) contended that the care and attention shown by Dicker-Brandeis to the children of Terezin "allowed [them] to see themselves reflected both in their images and in the eye of their teacher, thus furthering attachment to their world and the vital reality of their lived experiences" (pp. 158-159).…”

“…However, many aspects of the role of witness remain to be explored, given its richness and complexity. To my knowledge, aside from Seligman's (1995) research devoted to theatrical activities in the camps, the only art therapy literature that focuses specifically on Holocaust images is that of Wix (2009) on the presence of aesthetic empathy in the work of Dicker-Brandeis in Terezin, to which I will return below. In my view, it is critical to further explore the witness function that is at work in the creation of art produced in dire circumstances in general and in the concentration camp portrait in particular.…”

Visual Art Education and Aesthetic for Preschool Education Candidates

“…Aynı zamanda, çocukların duygularını estetik bir tavırla ortaya koydukları ifade edilmektedir. Ayrıca, çocuklar öğretmenlerini giyinişleriyle, davranışlarıyla ve iletişim biçimleriyle estetik bir model olarak almaktadırlar (Wix, 2009). Estetik gelişim için çocukların güzel ortamlarda bulunmaları, sanat örnekleriyle deneyim kazanmaları, yetişkinlerle sanat ve estetik hakkında konuşmaları gerekmektedir.…”