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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, Teddy Dior, Naor

Teddy Dior

Naor

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

$942

Sculpture, Dog Chanel, Naor

Dog Chanel

Naor

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

$1,305

Print, Farandole, Hans Hartung

Farandole

Hans Hartung

Print - 59.5 x 86.5 x 0.2 cm Print - 23.4 x 34.1 x 0.1 inch

$1,431

Painting, Amalt, Sumit Mehndiratta

Amalt

Sumit Mehndiratta

Painting - 86.4 x 86.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 34 x 34 x 1 inch

$834

Sculpture, Chat sur bidon, C215

Chat sur bidon

C215

Sculpture - 22 x 17 x 7 cm Sculpture - 8.7 x 6.7 x 2.8 inch

$2,623

Painting, Joy II, Viktoria Ganhao

Joy II

Viktoria Ganhao

Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch

$2,325

Painting, Home, Emmanuel Ojebola

Home

Emmanuel Ojebola

Painting - 91.4 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 48 x 1 inch

$4,500

Painting, L'absence, Sandrine Hirson

L'absence

Sandrine Hirson

Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch

$1,550

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

$5,365

Painting, You are so cool, tizlu

You are so cool

tizlu

Painting - 140 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 55.1 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch

$6,676

Painting, Nupcias, Enrique Pichardo

Nupcias

Enrique Pichardo

Painting - 100 x 150 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 59.1 x 0.4 inch

$3,123

Fine Art Drawings, Drawing 426, Sumit Mehndiratta

Drawing 426

Sumit Mehndiratta

Fine Art Drawings - 58 x 41 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22.8 x 16.1 x 0.4 inch

$715

Painting, Points et lignes, Xiu

Points et lignes

Xiu

Painting - 50 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch

$715

Painting, Composition 307, Xiu

Composition 307

Xiu

Painting - 50 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch

$715

Painting, Composition 305, Xiu

Composition 305

Xiu

Painting - 50 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch

$715

Painting, Composition 302, Xiu

Composition 302

Xiu

Painting - 50 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch

$834

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

$2,384

Painting, Enfant au Turban, C215

Enfant au Turban

C215

Painting - 100 x 120 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 0.4 inch

$8,583

Painting, NYC, Nash

NYC

Nash

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

$954

Print, Marilyn, Erró

Marilyn

Erró

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

$950

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