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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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Sculpture, 87, Jérôme Mesnager

87

Jérôme Mesnager

Sculpture - 26.5 x 22.5 x 11.5 cm Sculpture - 10.4 x 8.9 x 4.5 inch

$954

Sculpture, Tainted Love, tizlu

Tainted Love

tizlu

Sculpture - 60 x 36 x 26 cm Sculpture - 23.6 x 14.2 x 10.2 inch

$1,669

Painting, Harlequin, Kane Mclay

Harlequin

Kane Mclay

Painting - 100 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch

$2,980

Painting, N 124, Jérôme Mesnager

N 124

Jérôme Mesnager

Painting - 70 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch

$1,669

Painting, 92, Jérôme Mesnager

92

Jérôme Mesnager

Painting - 100 x 81 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 1 inch

$3,338

Painting, 49, Jérôme Mesnager

49

Jérôme Mesnager

Painting - 30 x 40 x 1.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.6 inch

$1,133

Print, Le lit, Enki Bilal

Le lit

Enki Bilal

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

$703

Print, Nu de dos, Henri Matisse

Nu de dos

Henri Matisse

Print - 48 x 34 x 0.2 cm Print - 18.9 x 13.4 x 0.1 inch

$978

Painting, Hip Hop, Jérôme Mesnager

Hip Hop

Jérôme Mesnager

Painting - 32 x 53 x 2 cm Painting - 12.6 x 20.9 x 0.8 inch

$1,431

Sculpture, El Bolso, Valerie Marty

El Bolso

Valerie Marty

Sculpture - 53 x 15 x 15 cm Sculpture - 20.9 x 5.9 x 5.9 inch

$1,609

Sculpture, 78, Jérôme Mesnager

78

Jérôme Mesnager

Sculpture - 14 x 18 x 10 cm Sculpture - 5.5 x 7.1 x 3.9 inch

$536

Painting, Sensual woman, Verssan

Sensual woman

Verssan

Painting - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch

$417

Print, Made In Japan, Erró

Made In Japan

Erró

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

$584

Sculpture, Queen of Carlsberg, Arman

Queen of Carlsberg

Arman

Sculpture - 77 x 33 x 33 cm Sculpture - 30.3 x 13 x 13 inch

$65,567

Photography, Saint-Tropez, Slim Aarons

Saint-Tropez

Slim Aarons

Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 cm Photography - 30 x 20 inch

$4,286

Print, Female Nude, Ivo Pannaggi

Female Nude

Ivo Pannaggi

Print - 70.5 x 50 x 0.2 cm Print - 27.8 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch

$906

Print, OMG ! (R2D2), Kobalt

OMG ! (R2D2)

Kobalt

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

$477

Print, Joanne, John Kacere

Joanne

John Kacere

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

$850

Photography, Bundled, Idan Wizen

Bundled

Idan Wizen

Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch

$894

Photography, Shiva, Idan Wizen

Shiva

Idan Wizen

Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch

$894

Print, Made in Japan, Erró

Made in Japan

Erró

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

$584

Print, Made in Japan, Erró

Made in Japan

Erró

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

$584