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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, Human, Sapo

Human

Sapo

Print - 30 x 21 cm Print - 11.8 x 8.3 inch

$69

Print, Happy face, Sapo

Happy face

Sapo

Print - 30 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.8 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch

$69

Print, Face cachée, Sapo

Face cachée

Sapo

Print - 14 x 14 x 1 cm Print - 5.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inch

$58 $52

Painting, Saut à la corde, Florkey

Saut à la corde

Florkey

Painting - 71 x 71 x 2 cm Painting - 28 x 28 x 0.8 inch

$1,734

Painting, Popeye pop chic, Vili

Popeye pop chic

Vili

Painting - 30 x 22 x 1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 8.7 x 0.4 inch

$81 $73

Painting, Vacula, Ruslan Minzhynskii

Vacula

Ruslan Minzhynskii

Painting - 120 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch

$1,503

Print, How to rob!, Jay-C

How to rob!

Jay-C

Print - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Print - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch

$5,201

Print, Astro!, Jay-C

Astro!

Jay-C

Print - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Print - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch

$4,046

Sculpture, Tu m'ennivre, Bat'Art

Tu m'ennivre

Bat'Art

Sculpture - 31 x 9 x 9 cm Sculpture - 12.2 x 3.5 x 3.5 inch

$393

Photography, Mickey, Cédric Bouteiller

Mickey

Cédric Bouteiller

Photography - 30 x 30 x 5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 2 inch

$1,387

Sculpture, Loulou, Ludo Gianroma

Loulou

Ludo Gianroma

Sculpture - 22 x 28 x 2 cm Sculpture - 8.7 x 11 x 0.8 inch

$439

Fine Art Drawings, Travis NYC Lines, Ivan Peev

Travis NYC Lines

Ivan Peev

Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 32 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 12.6 x 0 inch

$139

Painting, White Rose, Neno Ramos

White Rose

Neno Ramos

Painting - 85 x 85 cm Painting - 33.5 x 33.5 inch

$3,000

Painting, Ouverture, Franck Lobbé

Ouverture

Franck Lobbé

Painting - 50 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch

$289

Sculpture, Tainted Love, tizlu

Tainted Love

tizlu

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

$1,618

Print, OMG ! (R2D2), Kobalt

OMG ! (R2D2)

Kobalt

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

$462

Print, Made in Japan, Erró

Made in Japan

Erró

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

$566

Print, Made in Japan, Erró

Made in Japan

Erró

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

$566

Print, Kate Limited, Death NYC

Kate Limited

Death NYC

Print - 45 x 32 x 0.1 cm Print - 17.7 x 12.6 x 0 inch

$68

Painting, Ooh..., Walter Minus

Ooh...

Walter Minus

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

$1,029

Painting, Darkness, Artur Soletskyi

Darkness

Artur Soletskyi

Painting - 150 x 150 x 2 cm Painting - 59.1 x 59.1 x 0.8 inch

$9,247

Sculpture, Sculpture Paola, Arson

Sculpture Paola

Arson

Sculpture - 160 x 220 x 60 cm Sculpture - 63 x 86.6 x 23.6 inch

$26,007

Sculpture, Love Marilyn Monroe, PyB

Love Marilyn Monroe

PyB

Sculpture - 20 x 20 x 3 cm Sculpture - 7.9 x 7.9 x 1.2 inch

$289

Fine Art Drawings, Home party, Alcides Calizaya

Home party

Alcides Calizaya

Fine Art Drawings - 90 x 120 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 35.4 x 47.2 x 0.2 inch

$936

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