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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White

Lunar coalescence

Samuraicat’s Inkan Resonance , Silver

Afternoon rehearsal

I am free to imprison myself - II

Two Black Cats on the Sofa - Painting with Mona Lisa

Charming II

City with snow

The street

White Heart - Love, Amour, Amore, Liebe 3D white plaster

Heart - Love, Amour, Amore, Liebe 3D white plaster

Message - Paysage

Cube 24

Changing seasons

Nenufares

Wind of Change

3D White abstract from the series White reflection modern large painting textured, sculpture

3D White abstract from the series White reflection modern large painting textured, sculpture

3D White abstract from the series White reflection modern large painting textured, sculpture

White peonies

Flying Les Paul

Path in the snow, Saint Julien du Pinet

Jacques Callot

En toute liberté

Fréquence d'amour

Dune

White tree branches - minimalism nature garden 3d textured cement

White peony, Flower on a deep blue background

White geometric seascape - 3D texture minimalism

Orchid meditation

Mother's comfort

Végas pop art Naomi Vogue

Il était une fois...

Innocence

Mémoire du temps n° 42

Phare sous la tempête - Paysage marin figuratif

Mountains

Smoke Tunnel

Hope Chanel

Next

Re-bonjour

Sans titre

People on the coast

People on the coast II

En jaune 5

Mobilsnoop

Summit's Majesty

L'empire des sens

Portrait de famille

Marlow. Buckinghamshire

125) Flaque de pluie 2/11

February winter 1

February winter 9

Pomme - Vegas City of light

Cathedral

Michael Corleone in Sicily

L'essence de la vie

Love

Big heart

Rock

Hope

Smile

Mémoire du temps n° 37

Mémoire du temps n° 35

Mémoire du temps n°34

Mémoire du temps n°31

Neige d'autonome no 2 diptych