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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, Made in Japan, Erró

Made in Japan

Erró

Print - 64 x 46 cm Print - 25.2 x 18.1 inch

$583

Print, Made in Japan, Erró

Made in Japan

Erró

Print - 64 x 46 cm Print - 25.2 x 18.1 inch

$583

Fine Art Drawings, Untitled 126, Tarek Butayhi

Untitled 126

Tarek Butayhi

Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 20 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 7.9 inch

$700

Fine Art Drawings, Untitled 133, Tarek Butayhi

Untitled 133

Tarek Butayhi

Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 30 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 11.8 inch

$700

Painting, Bianca, Walter Minus

Bianca

Walter Minus

Painting - 29.7 x 21 cm Painting - 11.7 x 8.3 inch

$1,060

Photography, No title (No09), Suki Da

No title (No09)

Suki Da

Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch

$1,030

Painting, Boudoir, Mario Henrique

Boudoir

Mario Henrique

Painting - 120 x 150 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 59.1 x 1.6 inch

$7,738

Painting, Only You, James Shipton

Only You

James Shipton

Painting - 81 x 61 x 1 cm Painting - 31.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch

$530

Painting, Note, Kamsar Ohanyan

Note

Kamsar Ohanyan

Painting - 50 x 70 x 4 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 1.6 inch

$714

Painting, Pool days, Thomas Saliot

Pool days

Thomas Saliot

Painting - 120 x 180 cm Painting - 47.2 x 70.9 inch

$7,381

Print, OMG ! (R2D2), Kobalt

OMG ! (R2D2)

Kobalt

Print - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Print - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch

$476

Sculpture, L'envol, Brigitte Dravet

L'envol

Brigitte Dravet

Sculpture - 40 x 35 x 15 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 13.8 x 5.9 inch

$2,262

Print, Joanne, John Kacere

Joanne

John Kacere

Print - 39.4 x 58.4 cm Print - 15.5 x 23 inch

$850

Sculpture, Race, Jesus Curia

Race

Jesus Curia

Sculpture - 55 x 50 x 25 cm Sculpture - 21.7 x 19.7 x 9.8 inch

$11,310

Print, Affinity, Yves Pero

Affinity

Yves Pero

Print - 120 x 120 x 0.01 cm Print - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch

$1,429

Print, Le Cygne, Yves Pero

Le Cygne

Yves Pero

Print - 90 x 120 x 0.01 cm Print - 35.4 x 47.2 x 0 inch

$1,429

Painting, Lypsinka, Mark Kostabi

Lypsinka

Mark Kostabi

Painting - 172.7 x 213.4 cm Painting - 68 x 84 inch

$15,000

Fine Art Drawings, Possibility, Mino Maccari

Possibility

Mino Maccari

Fine Art Drawings - 18.5 x 22 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.3 x 8.7 x 0.1 inch

$714

Painting, Surfing, Alla Meleschenko

Surfing

Alla Meleschenko

Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch

$700

Photography, Courbes, Tanguy Mendrisse

Courbes

Tanguy Mendrisse

Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch

$149

Painting, Homme nu de face, Verssan

Homme nu de face

Verssan

Painting - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch

$1,667

Sculpture, L'éveil, Brigitte Dravet

L'éveil

Brigitte Dravet

Sculpture - 45 x 23 x 15 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 9.1 x 5.9 inch

$2,619

Painting, Lay Lady Lay, Pol Ledent

Lay Lady Lay

Pol Ledent

Painting - 80 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch

$1,429

Painting, Mashiro, Xavi Figueras

Mashiro

Xavi Figueras

Painting - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch

$1,071