How children draw the world

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My dream car, 1982 Boy (12), crayon, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

The Emmental farmhouse, 1964 Boy (14), crayon, Stalden Creme competition Pestalozzianum

Washing day, 1963 Girl (age not specified), crayon, Switzerland Pestalozzianum

My favourite doll, 1975 Girl (8), felt pen, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

Spring awakening, 1934 Boy (12), water colour, Switzerland Pestalozzianum

Before tha ambush, 1934 Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Swiss writer, 13), Pestalozzi Calendar Competition, Switzerland Pestalozzianum

My brother, 1919 Alois Carigiet (book illustrator, 16), silhouette, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

Save our waters, 1962 Boy (15), crayon/water colour, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

Without title, 1969 Unknown, linoleum print, Switzerland Pestalozzianum

Magic flower, about 1950 Girl (10), gouache, Sweden Pestalozzianum

Mural painting, 1929 Boy (playschool), mural painting, poster paint, Switzerland Pestalozzianum

Bremen town musicians, 1958 Girl (age not specified), crayon, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

On the climbing frame, not dated Girl (12), water colours, Switzerland Pestalozzianum

Sleeping Beauty, 1951 Boy (15), silhouette, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

My mother, around 1955 Girl (10), crayon, Japan Pestalozzianum

My mother with three children, 1957 Girl (5), cliché, Austria Pestalozzianum

In the lounge in the winter, 1952 Girl (12), water colour, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

Switzerland in colour, 1977 Boy (12), collage, Pestalozzi Calendar Competition Pestalozzianum

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The Pestalozzianum Foundation's archive of drawings by children and adolescents in Zurich is one of the most comprehensive collections of its type in Europe, covering the period between 1912 and 1984.

The archive is home to around 50,000 drawings collected from schools and competitions worldwide. They document everyday life, political and social events, as well as how art classes changed over time.

Childrens’ drawings and paintings have up until now only been of interest to developmental psychologists. They have, however, been little studied by art historians.

The archive is now evaluating its collection from a cultural and scientific point of view, studying social change through the art works. The evaluation has only just begun. One of the foundation’s main projects is the digitalisation of its archive. (Pictures: Stiftung Pestalozzianum Zürich)