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

Invisible Narratives 6.

Les dignitaires

Antypo

Interplay 1.

Inscenation 14

Fusion 1.

Silence désertique

Wrapping Bonbon Blanc

Musik Snoop

Hidden Story 23.

Paysage urbain #2

Follow the path

Life is Beautiful Black

Visual Dance - White and Gold - Framed

Ronald M.

Love Samba

“Banksy style – Balloon girl” skateboard

My Kid Just Ruined My Basquiat (Granit Version)

Boxing glove LV white

Illusion

Heart(black and white)-II

Paysage sombre

Alica

Elmyr

Nima

Diavasi

Storm

Elegant minimalist abstraction

Fading Grace

Gertrude Stein

The Whisper of Lines

The Aria of Silence — a tribute to Maria Callas

Lace of Silent Stories

Silent Geometry

Autumn's sky

Landscape#32

Autumn city

Big fish

Size XL - Tout ira bien N°2

Blue Veil

Evolving Grid

Prestance

Freedom

Tout simplement

Di-vin #4

Winter forest - 3d minimalism textured abstraction

Winter forest

Snowy mountain in winter

Fantasia

Still Life in White

Serena VI

White textured abstraction- sea, mountain winter snowfall

White seascape minimalism 3d textured abstract objects nature

Black and white clouds monochrome minimalism

Black clouds on white sky monochrome minimalism

Waves - 3D white

3D white waves in the ocean

3D white waves in the ocean

3D White abstract strips landscape

3D White geometric abstraction

White snow seascape 3D

White reflection

White reflection

3D White abstract landscape

Anges des miroirs IV

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