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

Yasa

Andhana

Childhood

In the shade of the apricot tree

Minimal Forms 02

Fragments de Chine

Magnolia - Selene

Spring Feeling

Lucky Luke on Keith's Dog (plan du métro de Paris)

Fragile Beauty III

40 de 2014

15 de 2025

15 de 2024

Flux de l'aimant

Flux de l'aimant

Dead Leaves

Now And Then

Peinture 01-2024-07

Fast Light

Abstract 22157

Two Halves Make A Whole Handmade Sculpture for Home Decor

Chair Duet

Amy Winehouse, do it with style

Woman walking with a dog

Zen Circle (Stretched)

Mosaico en ajedrez

88

Pareja

Le cailloux dans la chaussure

Still Alive sur toile

Aziz, blanc et vert

Planche de l'Almanach 4

Café de Paris

Cariatides

Dont wanna fall again

Optichromie 143

Marine abstraite 80

Untold story

Fairytales

Petali di luce

4Seasons Autumn

Underground

What Party White

Rimbaud, Boulevard Saint-Michel

Cycles X

Melkaj

Expectation

Méli-Mélo

Skull in the Meditation with Neon Design

Daily dream

Bouquet of White flowers in a blue vase on red. Still life

Galassie profonde

Blinding Lights

Mémoire de JingDeZhen

Mémoire de JingDeZhen

The Golden Lotus Lake

Best Friends

Forest Whitaker

Coastal ripples

Melodie Monocromatiche - Bianco puro

Composition No. 323

Composition No.252

Black And White Abstract No. 4

The Cove

Celestial sky

Come dance with me