Empathie, signification et art abstrait

Empathy is a semiotically interesting phenomenon which still remains in doubt however. The development of an empathic relationship between a spectator and his object of reverence not only predetermines the passionate state of that subject, but also the interpretative modalities which he will put forward. This thematic approach does not deal only with psychology or psychoanalysis, but also with aesthetics where it was first developed. Thus a reconstruction of its numerous definitions can permit us to reevalu- ate, among others, the notions of empathy historically proposed by Robert Vischer, Wölfflin, Lipps, Lee, and Worringer. Without aiming at developing outright an empathic methodology, this subject mat- ter si considered here ni relation to the emergence of sense-making in perception. Set forth at the genesis of signification in art, empathy thus shows a real link with abstract and non-figurative forms.