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

Question d'équilibre

Autorretrato. Picasso.

Fumador hindú

The eye of God

Next

Re-bonjour

Oia Cliffside

Lavander Gate

Ebonas I

Nous ne sommes pas les derniers

Nous ne sommes pas les derniers 190

Nous ne sommes pas les derniers 200

Gaze up to the Sky

The gathering of dreamers

Retrats Óvals

Luperca de Romulo y Remo

Bañándose

Emergiendo del Mar

Ophelia

Realidad Invertida

Circulo en el Mar

Hangers 1

Appareil photo blanc

Morgenster Tall Ship - Marine Art

Au Cabaret

Au Cabaret

Au Cabaret

Between The Light - Neon Lemon V1

Between The Light - Titanium on Viridian V1 Edit

Printemps

Snowman

Alter Ego

People on the coast

Chalama albâtre

Le petit chien blanc

Temptation

La Picina

Ballom entrance

The God of dreams

Les Nuages

Untitled

Venues d'ailleurs

Are you Humain ?

Courses à vélo

Embrace

Black Elegance (Woman)

Holding fast

Résistance

Sisyphus Skull

Counting The Beats

My Shadow A Reflection of Me 2

Douce mélancolie

Barbu

Christ

Summit's Majesty

Harbor serenity

The night dream

Masami

Melody

Divine fleur

Mädchen mit Hut

Hen

Femme en blanc - Portrait femme du monde

Alliance Duo Couple

Nature call 2

Eve