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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, Dog Save the Queen, Dface

Dog Save the Queen

Dface

Print - 40 x 30 x 30 cm Print - 15.7 x 11.8 x 11.8 inch

$1,860

Painting, NYC, Nash

NYC

Nash

Painting - 90 x 90 x 20 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 7.9 inch

$936

Painting, 99, Jérôme Mesnager

99

Jérôme Mesnager

Painting - 49 x 39 x 3 cm Painting - 19.3 x 15.4 x 1.2 inch

$1,462

Painting, San Romano, Nagsoul

San Romano

Nagsoul

Painting - 50 x 70 x 1.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.6 inch

$2,340

Painting, Still sounds, Maria Esmar

Still sounds

Maria Esmar

Painting - 100 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch

$3,159

Painting, Untitled BW II, JonOne

Untitled BW II

JonOne

Painting - 76 x 56 x 0.1 cm Painting - 29.9 x 22 x 0 inch

$5,265

Painting, Red Ahava, Shelby

Red Ahava

Shelby

Painting - 130 x 130 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 51.2 x 1.2 inch

$5,616

Painting, Fusion 2, Sabine Louriac

Fusion 2

Sabine Louriac

Painting - 65 x 50 x 0.3 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch

$608

Painting, Mal de terre, Jef Aérosol

Mal de terre

Jef Aérosol

Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch

$6,318

Sculpture, Dog Chanel, Naor

Dog Chanel

Naor

Sculpture - 40 x 33 x 33 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 13 x 13 inch

$1,281

Painting, Jonrock, JonOne

Jonrock

JonOne

Painting - 61 x 41 x 2 cm Painting - 24 x 16.1 x 0.8 inch

$5,733

Painting, Never let you go, JonOne

Never let you go

JonOne

Painting - 85 x 68 x 6 cm Painting - 33.5 x 26.8 x 2.4 inch

$16,263

Painting, Snoopy, Martin

Snoopy

Martin

Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch

$913

Print, Noir et blanc, Arman

Noir et blanc

Arman

Print - 77 x 61 cm Print - 30.3 x 24 inch

$1,053

Sculpture, Teddy Dior, Naor

Teddy Dior

Naor

Sculpture - 35 x 25 x 20 cm Sculpture - 13.8 x 9.8 x 7.9 inch

$924

Painting, Better Days, Maria Esmar

Better Days

Maria Esmar

Painting - 120 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch

$3,159 $2,843

Painting, Levitating, Maria Esmar

Levitating

Maria Esmar

Painting - 120 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch

$3,100 $2,790

Painting, Contraste, Sophie Dumont

Contraste

Sophie Dumont

Painting - 65 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch

$4,984

Painting, Cats, Kalina Mavrodieva

Cats

Kalina Mavrodieva

Painting - 18 x 25 x 0.2 cm Painting - 7.1 x 9.8 x 0.1 inch

$790

Print, Marilyn, Erró

Marilyn

Erró

Print - 58.4 x 80 cm Print - 23 x 31.5 inch

$950

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