Wow, this thread had certainly degenerated. I didn't read it earlier because I thought that it was a bit precious to worry about such a insignificant thing (at least in my personal experience), and just clicked on it because I was wondering why it would still be around.
It sound like zebramummy might need a thicker skin, something I'm surprised she hasn't acquired if she has been here for a ling time. Some of the earlier comments were uncalled for, and she reacted badly to them and things quickly avalanched from there.
I suppose I need to give my qualifications if I am to be taken seriously: Ivy League university, Ivy League medical school, SAHM, "gifted" artistically (I was in a university art program in high school), family background filled with artists/architects. OK - do I get a pass?
Art is obviously very important to me and the thing I was most excited about when DS1 was a toddler was doing art projects with him. I went to ELC and purchased almost everything they had in terms of art supplies when he was 20 months old. I put the smock on him, poured out the painted into their little pots and put a different paintbrush in each pot. I was so dismayed when ds came over took one brush, made one gigantic blob then placed this brush into the wrong pot and made another blob. At this point, the novelty wore off and he lost interest. I tried several other times, then gave up.
DS1 started afternoon nursery at 2 and a half. His artworks consistently were limited to 1 blob of 1-2 colours, unlike some of the more colourful, formed works of his peers. However, I didn't care. I simply accepted that are wasn't his thing, and it was more important to me to follow the interests of DS, and encourage him to develop HIS strengths, not mine.
His artwork continued in this level through the rest of nursery, and was about the same through most of Reception. However, something happened in Reception, and towards the end, he started to become very interested in drawing, adding detail and colour, and will on his own sit and created extremely detailed artworks. In fact, at our most recent teacher meeting, his teacher commented on how much DS enjoyed creating his drawings and how he gets so absorbed in them that he doesn't hear her!
What happened? Well, I let DS pursue his own interests, which led to Lego. He loved (not in the beginning - but after about 2 years of casually playing with them) creating his own models. As he got older, his models go increasingly complex, and his love of creating spread to paper.
Great art (as is greatness in all areas) is about seeing the world in a different manner - what is commonly called creativity. Creativity, rather than fine motor skills, is the most important thing to encourage at this age. Part of the reason why DS1 didn't show much interest earlier in creating works of art was that his fine motor skills just weren't there. You can't force creativity, and it is easily squashed.
In terms of appreciation of art history, well he will acquire this simply by being in an environment where it is important. You don't need to push this.