Abstraction and Empathy: A Contribution to the Psychology of Style

by Wilhelm Worringer

2014 Reprint of 1953 New York Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. In this text, Worringer identifies two opposing tendencies pervading the history of art from ancient times through the Enlightenment. He claims that in societies experiencing periods of anxiety and intense spirituality, such as those of ancient Egypt and the Middle Ages, artistic production tends toward a flat, crystalline "abstraction," while cultures that are oriented toward science and the physical world, like ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy, are dominated by more naturalistic, embodied styles, which he grouped under the term "empathy." As was traditional for art history at the time, Worringer's book remained firmly engaged with the past, ignoring contemporaneous artistic production. Yet in the wake of its publication-just one year after Pablo Picasso painted his masterpiece "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon"-"Abstraction and Empathy" came to be seen as fundamental for understanding the rise of Expressionism and the role of abstraction in the early twentieth century.

Genres: Art, Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Art History, History, Essays

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

1881-1965

Reviews

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Para ser una teoría estética es interesante y se le da puntos por ello.

Sin embargo, siguiendo la tradición del idealismo alemán, ignora muchos descubrimientos históricos y arqueológicos incluso de su época y termina postulando cosas sinsentido que suenan grandilocuentes pero no tienen ningún sustento material ni científico.

Quizás lo más rescatable de todo esto es la valoración que hace de la estética árabe / oriental post-feudalismo, pero todo lo que dice del gótico y del arte griego clásico es tan cliché y predecible que ni siquiera lo vale.

Mejor lean los cursos de estética de Hegel.

[Angelo Montinovo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Consigliatissimo a tutti coloro che si affacciano al mondo dell’arte, dell’estetica e perché no dello spirituale. Un punto di vista originale. Apre la mente a nuove e diverse prospettive.

[Iacopo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dal titolo ero già molto incuriosito e devo dire che in generale ha soddisfatto le mie aspettative. Un libro interessante che ribalta, in parte, la nostra concezione di storia dell' arte e delle diverse capacità di rappresentazione di alcuni popoli, nelle diverse culture e secoli. Molto interessante, consiglio a chiunque abbia anche un minimo di curiosità nel mondo artistico, storico e anche antropologico.
p.s. è una tesi di dottorato e ciò lo rende ancora più interessante.

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The title already intrigued me and I must say that in general it met my expectations. An interesting book that flip, in part, our concept of the history of art and the different representational capacities of some peoples, in different cultures and centuries. Very interesting, I recommend it to anyone who has even a minimum of curiosity in the artistic, historical and even anthropological world.
p.s. it is a doctoral thesis and this makes it even more interesting.

4,5⭐

[Dallas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly argued and overly reliant on quoting other, better thinkers. But almost, and I mean almost, interesting: he uses Riegl's concept of absolute artistic volition quite deftly to argue the majority of his thesis, though he seems conflicted on whether this volition is subconcious or unconcious, individual or cultural. This sort of tension seems to point (unconsciously?) to the exact interaction he describes between the urge to empathy and the urge to abstraction, which seems strikingly prescient for Germany in 1907... reads better as a sociopolitical document -- a foundational text in developing the Nazi's fascistic view of what art should do and be -- rather than a genuine illumination of the role of abstraction in the psychological-artistic practice. If you're looking for that, read Hubert Damisch. There's not enough meat here to recontextualize and re-invent, even if did happen to be well written. Intellectually bare-bones.

[José Van Rosmalen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dit boek spreekt mij niet aan, het is gewichtig Duits en gaat uit van metafysica en de ‘essentie’ van de kunst, ik zie wel dat geloof tot grote kunstuitingen kan leiden, zoals piramides en kathedralen, maar zou daarbij zelf meer voelen voor een sociologische benadering dan een m.i. metafysische benadering die op zich ook een geloofsartikel is.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And life is energy, inner working, striving and accomplishing. In a word, life
is activity. But activity is that in which I experience an expenditure of energy. By its nature, this activity is an activity of the will. It is endeavour or volition in motion."

[Bequi · Rating 2 out of 5]

¿Por qué a los filósofos les encanta escribir tan oscuro?

[Eduardo Braga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um clássico da teoria e crítica da arte. Worringer foi um dos primeiros filósofos a valorizar os aspectos abstratos da arte. O fundamento teórico, comum a vários filósofos, é aquele de uma teoria pendular como esboçada magistralmente por Heinrich Wölfflin ao situar a história da arte e a " Kunstwollen" (vontade da arte) como um movimento pendular que vai da Forma Clássica à Forma Barroca, sucessivamente. Em Worringer trata-se de um movimento pendular que vai do "realismo", o qual ele compreende como os períodos históricos onde os seres humanos estão otimistas e explorando a natureza, a ciência e a realidade; ao "abstracionismo", que são os períodos onde os seres humanos se afastam da "realidade" na busca de uma pureza e uma interioridade. Como todo grande clássico deve ser lido criticamente por todos aqueles que gostam de arte, estética e filosofia.

[Edward]

For a long time.

[Anastasiya Zavgorod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will always look at empathizing differently from this point on. It gave me an insight on perspectives historically. It's a great read!