ABSTRACT
In his highly acclaimed 1908 book, Abstraktion und Einfühlung (Abstraction and Empathy: A Contribution to the Psychology of Style), German art historian Wilhelm Worringer opened the chapter on ornament stating, It is of the essence of ornament that in its products the artistic volition of a people finds its purest and most unobscured expression. Worringer's use of the binary concepts are attributed primarily to the influence of psychologist and aesthetician Theodore Lipps and art historian Alois Riegl, and is indebted to late nineteenth-century aesthetic theories premised on polarities. This chapter assesses the impact of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century ornamental theory on modern art and architecture, Worringer's statement regarding ornament's ability to define a culture's artistic volition is noteworthy for several reasons. Five years after arriving in London, German architect Gottfried Semper voiced his objection to current approaches toward design reform practiced in the Schools of Design.
