There are four defects in the treatment of historical fact, which we could summarize so that, to the extent possible, we can move beyond them and set aside those works that are in the grip of such approaches. The first involves the deliberate introduction of the period in which the historian lives into the narrative, as occurs in myth, religion, and literature. Another situation involves the manipulation of sources. A third, oversimplification and stereotyping, and lastly there is the kind of “censorship” produced by the prepredicates of the age. Nevertheless, if someone were to make explicit these errors or demonstrate how difficult they are to avoid, their contribution might be taken seriously inasmuch as their presentation has been made with reflection and the development can be followed rationally. Fortunately, this is often the case, and it is precisely what allows us to have a productive discussion. (10)

(10) Many historians working in other fields have reasoned in this way; for example, Worringer in Abstraction und Einfühlung, where he deals with the question of style in art. Because such a study must necessarily appeal to a conception of historical fact, this author psychologizes the history of art (and psychologizes the historical interpretations of artistic phenomena), making an awkward but conscientious declaration of his own point of view. “This is the end result of a deeply ingrained error regarding the essence of art in general. This error has its expression in the belief, sanctioned through many centuries, that the history of art is the history of artistic capacity, and that its self-evident and constant goal is the artistic reproduction of natural models. Consequently, artistic progress was seen in the increasing veracity and naturalness of the representation. The question of artistic will was never raised because that will seemed to be fixed and indisputable. Capacity alone was the problem in question, never the will. It was believed, then, really, that humanity needed thousands of years to learn to draw with exactness, that is, with natural truth; it was truly believed, that in each moment artistic production was determined by the increase or decrease of this capacity. Passing unnoticed in all of this—even though so close and so necessary for the researcher who wants to understand many situations in the history of art—was the knowledge that this capacity is only a secondary aspect that receives its determination and its norms from the will, the superior and uniquely determining factor. Nevertheless, current research in the sphere of art can no longer, as we have said, make do without this knowledge. For such research the following maxim is axiomatic: We have been able to do everything that we have wanted, and what we haven’t done is because it is not within the direction of artistic will. The will, which used to be indisputable, now becomes itself the focus of research, and capacity is now excluded as the criteria of value.” Translated from La Esencia del Estilo Gótico, G. Worringer (Buenos Aires: Revista de Occidente Argentina, 1948, pp. 18, 19).

In: Historiological Discussions, Silo

Chapter 1: The Past as Viewed from the Present 1.1 The Distortion of Mediated History 

Wilhelm Worringer (1881 - 1965)

Topics

Wilhelm Worringer was an influential art historian and philosopher who studied the psychological motivation behind art styles. In his major work Abstraction and Empathy (1907), he examined the contrast between naturalistic and abstract art forms. He argued that abstract art was favoured in times of cultural uncertainty, while naturalistic art dominated in times of stability and harmony.

The main topics of his research were:

1. Investigating the contrasting artistic trends in art history.

2. Analysing how cultural and psychological factors influence the reception of art.

3. Form problems in art – exploring the significance of formal aspects in the art of different eras.

4. Art and cultural history of the Middle Ages – focus on the significance of medieval art and its abstraction.

Major works

• Abstraction and Empathy, A Contribution to the Psychology of Style 1907, (doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bern)

• Formprobleme der Gotik, 1911

• Die altdeutsche Buchillustration, 1912

• Ägyptische Kunst – Probleme ihrer Wertung, 1927

• Writings, ed. Hannes Böhringer, Helga Grebing, Beate Söntgen, Munich, 2004

Influence

His dissertation ‘Abstraction and Empathy’ influenced artists and groups of expressionist artists, including Emil Nolde, the Dresden ‘Brücke’, the British and US literary-theoretical and literary-critical direction ‘New Criticism’, André Malraux.

Worringer had a decisive influence on the understanding of modern art and its social and psychological foundations.

Keywords, terms in his writings:

abstraction, artistic intention (after Alois Riegl)