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!

Search by Image

Save your search and find it in your favorites

7/18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Categories

Subcategories

White

Identity No. 2

A Beautiful Fight

Maître chat

Faberge Egg LV

Poisson à l'oeil rouge

Behind the Door

Glisser sur les vagues de ses rêves

Abstract Reflections

Ciel Niagara - Paysage nuageux

Rivages à l'horizon - Paysage nuageux

In a gadda da Vita

Eyes That Sees

La hija vestida de novia

Guajira

Cold bed

Angelo del Giudizio Universale serie Omaggio a Giusto de' Menabuoi

Les Vents Turquoise 15

Le lac Baïkal, surface gelée et ses fissures géométriques - Paysages nordiques enneigés

Solitude Boréale - Paysages nordiques enneigés

S211 Le derviche tourneur 2

La Manif - Scène de vie urbaine figurative

Paris autrement – Scène de vie urbaine figurative

Omosewa

As Far As You Can See

La mariée à cheval

Encre I

Chère soeur

Association day

Petite ruine au printemps en Grèce

Forêt flamboyante

Mon jardin de nuit

Various States N5

Various States N3

Various States N2

Franclisa

Squat de pêche à Ducos.

Ballerina meccanica

Parenthèse

Souliers Vernis

Mediterranean Daydream

AXXIS series

AXXIS Series

Daffodils

Great view, great car

Boboli Gardens-Detail

Observation

Big Birds of Paradise Series

Sound of Eternal Remembrance

Here Comes Texas!..

Ilori 3 (Put To Bed)

Morning Sunbathing

Nous ne sommes pas les derniers 196

Closer

Little Ballerinas

Chouchou

Vast and Flamboyant

Phalaenopsis

Carol leyendo

Mamá dando pecho

Very difficult ease.

Este regalo es mio

Ponchando a mi enemigo

De que me alimento ?

Hollywood Star

BB 1974

Karl estimated value