In my presentation I take a critical look at the scientific and pedagogical work of Viktor Löwenfeld (1903-1960), one of the most influential art educators of the 20th century. Löwenfeld's career began in Vienna, where he taught clay, wax, and wood modeling at the Israelite Institute for the Blind beginning in 1923. After the “Anschluss” of Austria to Nazi Germany in March 1938, Löwenfeld immigrated to the United States, where he worked as a professor, first at the Hampton Institute in Virginia and later at Pennsylvania State University. In my presentation, I would like to analyze how Löwenfeld developed his pedagogical and psychological leitmotifs in his work with blind students and how he applied them in the American context. A particular focus of the lecture will be Löwenfeld's primitivism, which is expressed equally in his work with blind and African American youth.