In contemporary society children grow up surrounded by visual sensations. That is why pupils react positively as soon as they have the opportunity to learn through, or with help of visual arts. Since art is an essential part of human experience, pupils should be more involved with it and spend more time studying it during their compulsory education, in order to understand that man can communicate not only verbally but also though music, dance, drama and visual arts. The paper presents contemporary theorists and their perception of the benefits that visual arts have on education of children and youngsters and the effects that art education has on harmonious development of personality. Towards the end of the 20th century, many developed countries changed their understanding of the roles and functions of education in the field of visual arts in compulsory education and began developing new strategies regarding compulsory education in general, with special emphasis on art education.
