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White

In physics, white is the sum of all the colours. To the human eye, white appears to be the total absence of colour. Amongst artists, white and its many uses in art are continuously evolving and challenging those who would embrace them. Is white, then, a non-colour, or an enhancer of colours? Intangible or material? Absence or excess?

Since Antiquity, white has been appreciated for its symbolic value. In Ancient Greece, where they would paint their statues, it was a sign of incompletion, whereas the Romans believed it showed pomp and imperialist virtue. With the rise of Christianity, white was used in opposition to black in order to emphasise moral dichotomies: the pure, divine white against the darkness. In some cases, however, white was used to show sickness or death, most notably in the pallid representations of the skeletal, crucified Christ.

In the Renaissance white was used to sublimate faces and backgrounds. Da Vinci even based his sfumato technique on the soft transition from light into darkness. Throughout the history of painting, white was considered precious for its ability to reflect light. It attracts the gaze even when used in the tiniest quantities, and illuminates the subject, drawing out stunning contrasts as seen in the works of Rembrandt, or in Vermeer's famous Girl with the Pearl Earring.

With the rise of Impressionism, white was used as the brightest tone amongst shades of grey. While Manet produced canvases which were forerunners to monochromes, including The Reader, which was almost pure white, Monet delivered a stunning gradient of whites whilst recreating the snow at his home in Giverny. The first true white monochrome appeared with the arrival of Malevitch's White Square on a White Background. The artist said 'I have broken the blue boundary of colour limits, and come out into the white'.

 

Modernists were equally passionate about white and valued it incredibly highly. Miro in particular questioned the status of white on canvases. In his painting Woman, Bird and Star white is in parts boldly painted, but is also distinctive for its absence around the star. Picasso, on the other hand, explored white in conjunction with his famous coloured periods. Piero Manzoni became famous thanks to his 'achromatic' paintings, a series of canvases produced exclusively in shades of white. Moving into the 20th century, white became synonymous with minimalist abstraction. For artists like Kandinsky, white was a cosmic colour, associated with a spiritual search for the absolute, guiding the artists as he seek to express his emotions.  

 

Today, white remains an ever popular subject. Roman Opalka made his name creating a series of white numbers of a white background, while Daniel Arsham reinvents white walls in galleries by letting his artwork drip down onto them. White is a colour with multiple symbolic interpretations. The colour of divinity or humility; of purity and immaculate, of emptiness and absence, but always colour. If blue has Klein and red has Rothko, it appears that no artist has yet succeeded in fully mastering white – but maybe you'll find them in our selection!


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Print, BW210710, André Nadal

BW210710

André Nadal

Print - 50 x 50 x 0.7 cm Print - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.3 inch

$1,431

Print, AL 2, Hans Hartung

AL 2

Hans Hartung

Print - 76 x 56 cm Print - 29.9 x 22 inch

$3,338

Sculpture, Dancing girl, Luo Li Rong

Dancing girl

Luo Li Rong

Sculpture - 52 x 42 x 30 cm Sculpture - 20.5 x 16.5 x 11.8 inch

$16,451

Print, Joan prats, Joan Brossa

Joan prats

Joan Brossa

Print - 76 x 56 x 1 cm Print - 29.9 x 22 x 0.4 inch

$656

Sculpture, Pam Splash Chanel, Naor

Pam Splash Chanel

Naor

Sculpture - 33 x 15 x 8 cm Sculpture - 13 x 5.9 x 3.1 inch

$1,180

Painting, Paysage marocain, C215

Paysage marocain

C215

Painting - 85 x 110 x 2 cm Painting - 33.5 x 43.3 x 0.8 inch

$8,941

Painting, Paradis, Emily Starck

Paradis

Emily Starck

Painting - 78.7 x 78.7 x 2.5 cm Painting - 31 x 31 x 1 inch

$1,850

Fine Art Drawings, Untitled 3754, Oto Macek

Untitled 3754

Oto Macek

Fine Art Drawings - 84 x 59 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 33.1 x 23.2 x 0 inch

$1,192

Painting, MultiTags, Seen

MultiTags

Seen

Painting - 61 x 56 cm Painting - 24 x 22 inch

$3,576

Fine Art Drawings, Belgique, Tarek

Belgique

Tarek

Fine Art Drawings - 46.7 x 37.5 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 18.4 x 14.8 x 0 inch

$1,013

Painting, Les dunes chutent, Jéko

Les dunes chutent

Jéko

Painting - 130 x 97 x 2 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 0.8 inch

$4,172

Painting, AC2, Stefano Mazzolini

AC2

Stefano Mazzolini

Painting - 100 x 70 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch

$596

Painting, AC13, Stefano Mazzolini

AC13

Stefano Mazzolini

Painting - 100 x 70 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch

$596

Sculpture, Pam Splash Rolex, Naor

Pam Splash Rolex

Naor

Sculpture - 33 x 15 x 8 cm Sculpture - 13 x 5.9 x 3.1 inch

$1,180

Painting, Royal, Sandrine Hartmann

Royal

Sandrine Hartmann

Painting - 60 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch

$811

Painting, Camo Moth, Mary Lottridge

Camo Moth

Mary Lottridge

Painting - 51 x 51 x 4 cm Painting - 20.1 x 20.1 x 1.6 inch

$936 $796

Sculpture, Penna, Scott Troxel

Penna

Scott Troxel

Sculpture - 22.9 x 39.4 x 5.1 cm Sculpture - 9 x 15.5 x 2 inch

$2,265

Sculpture, Sunday, Scott Troxel

Sunday

Scott Troxel

Sculpture - 27.3 x 31.1 x 5.1 cm Sculpture - 10.75 x 12.25 x 2 inch

$1,431

Sculpture, Spomenick, Scott Troxel

Spomenick

Scott Troxel

Sculpture - 47.6 x 36.8 x 7 cm Sculpture - 18.75 x 14.5 x 2.75 inch

$1,669

Sculpture, Dusty Pink, Scott Troxel

Dusty Pink

Scott Troxel

Sculpture - 51.4 x 20.3 x 4.4 cm Sculpture - 20.25 x 8 x 1.75 inch

$1,907

Fine Art Drawings, Meditation, Gina Vor

Meditation

Gina Vor

Fine Art Drawings - 55.5 x 76 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21.9 x 29.9 x 0 inch

$715

Fine Art Drawings, Gestures, Gina Vor

Gestures

Gina Vor

Fine Art Drawings - 55.5 x 76 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21.9 x 29.9 x 0 inch

$715

Print, Arles, Pablo Picasso

Arles

Pablo Picasso

Print - 48 x 36 x 0.1 cm Print - 18.9 x 14.2 x 0 inch

$1,907

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