Abstraction and Empathy: A Contribution to the Psychology of Style

by Wilhelm Worringer, Michael Bullock (Translator), Hilton Kramer (Introduction)

Wilhelm Worringer s landmark study in the interpretation of modern art, first published in 1908, has seldom been out of print. Its profound impact not only on art historians and theorists but also for generations of creative writers and intellectuals is almost unprecedented. Starting from the notion that beauty derives from our sense of being able to identify with an object, Worringer argues that representational art produces satisfaction from our objectified delight in the self, reflecting a confidence in the world as it is as in Renaissance art. By contrast, the urge to abstraction, as exemplified by Egyptian, Byzantine, primitive, or modern expressionist art, articulates a totally different response to the world: it expresses man s insecurity. Thus in historical periods of anxiety and uncertainty, man seeks to abstract objects from their unpredictable state and transform them into absolute, transcendental forms. Abstraction and Empathy also has a sociological dimension, in that the urge to create fixed, abstract, and geometric forms is a response to the modern experience of industrialization and the sense that individual identity is threatened by a hostile mass society. Hilton Kramer s introduction considers the influence of Worringer s thesis and places his book in historical context."

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

168 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!