White
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Intemerata
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 100 x 100 x 5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 2 inch
$1,447
Elvis Presley
Erekle Tsuladze
Sculpture - 70 x 295 x 130 cm Sculpture - 27.6 x 116.1 x 51.2 inch
$78,533 $66,753
Composition noir et blanc 8
Albert Ràfols-Casamada
Print - 38.5 x 57 x 0.1 cm Print - 15.2 x 22.4 x 0 inch
$449
The Sons of Archon - Plate 8
Giorgio de Chirico
Print - 29.3 x 43.8 x 0.1 cm Print - 11.5 x 17.2 x 0 inch
$5,385
Untitled (3). From series: Secret Photography - Cliché Verre and Photograms
Eliška Bartek
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$2,580
Untitled (4). From series: Secret Photography - Cliché Verre and Photograms
Eliška Bartek
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$2,580
Untitled (6). From series: Secret Photography - Cliché Verre and Photograms
Eliška Bartek
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$2,580
Untitled. From series: Secret Photography - Cliché Verre and Photograms
Eliška Bartek
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$2,580
Untitled (10). From series: Secret Photography - Cliché Verre and Photograms
Eliška Bartek
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$2,580
L'Attrape rêve 2
Eric Beauplace
Sculpture - 65 x 95 x 20 cm Sculpture - 25.6 x 37.4 x 7.9 inch
$8,414
L'Attrape rêve 1
Eric Beauplace
Sculpture - 53 x 103 x 20 cm Sculpture - 20.9 x 40.6 x 7.9 inch
$8,414
Quantas formas tens para contar o tempo 1
Paulo Canilhas
Painting - 93 x 115 x 4 cm Painting - 36.6 x 45.3 x 1.6 inch
$2,917
Sans titre 2
Thierry Valencin
Photography - 32 x 40 x 3 cm Photography - 12.6 x 15.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,099
Cinematography inspired session #22
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$213
Grammature Di Colore (Color Weight)
Elio Marchegiani
Print - 48 x 65.6 x 0.2 cm Print - 18.9 x 25.8 x 0.1 inch
$314
Grammature Di Colore (Color Weight)
Elio Marchegiani
Print - 47.5 x 65 x 0.2 cm Print - 18.7 x 25.6 x 0.1 inch
$314
Come il Santo (Like the Saint)
Tommaso Cascella
Painting - 60 x 60 x 8 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 3.1 inch
$7,292
Jardin d'enfants
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$785
Enfants qui lisent
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$785
Poupée blanche
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$785
Course nocturne
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$785
Femme au tableau
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 28 x 36 x 1 cm Photography - 11 x 14.2 x 0.4 inch
$785
Etude de la place
Eugenia Jaeger
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 59 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 23.2 inch
$785
Casper the Ghost x PopArt x Obey x White
Koen Betjes
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$504
Coqueiros de Klee
José Ignacio Suarez Solis
Painting - 140 x 149.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 55.1 x 59 x 0.1 inch
$4,200
Bambú de noite
José Ignacio Suarez Solis
Painting - 110 x 149.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 43.3 x 59 x 0.1 inch
$3,300
Jardins Romains / A day in Rome
Fabio Purino
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$841
Mata mamey século XV
José Ignacio Suarez Solis
Painting - 110 x 179.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 43.3 x 70.8 x 0.1 inch
$3,960
Dancer: Karolina #1
Cody Choi
Photography - 101.6 x 76.2 x 0.1 cm Photography - 40 x 30 x 0 inch
$595
Above the Clouds #3
Cody Choi
Photography - 76.2 x 101.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 30 x 40 x 0 inch
$857
Purple papaya
Prisca Akua Kwaning
Painting - 150 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,974
Meet me in the middle
Prisca Akua Kwaning
Painting - 150 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,765
Disposición lineal
Borja Barrajón
Sculpture - 21 x 24 x 20 cm Sculpture - 8.3 x 9.4 x 7.9 inch
$4,347
Pink shoes and glasses of the eccentric
Kraiwit Phothikul
Painting - 120 x 130 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 51.2 x 1.6 inch
$3,366
Fields of France
ERA Artistry
Painting - 44.5 x 54.5 x 3 cm Painting - 17.5 x 21.5 x 1.2 inch
$3,478
C'est qui le patron
Sandra Paris
Fine Art Drawings - 28.5 x 21 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.2 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
$201
Barques de Pécheurs catalans
André Lac
Fine Art Drawings - 35 x 52 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 13.8 x 20.5 x 0.8 inch
$718
Portrait 2
Anastasia Kurakina
Fine Art Drawings - 28.5 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.2 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$763
The Flight of David
Anastasia Kurakina
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 28 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11 x 0 inch
$763
Scattered Floes
Nicholas Kriefall
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 2 inch
$2,900
Between The Light - Neon Lemon V1
Sophie Derrick
Painting - 180 x 120 x 5 cm Painting - 70.9 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$11,121
Between The Light - Titanium on Viridian V1 Edit
Sophie Derrick
Painting - 180 x 120 x 5 cm Painting - 70.9 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$11,121
Apple tree in the snow
Simon Kozhin
Painting - 20 x 30 x 0.3 cm Painting - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$4,039
Summer Rain
Rakhmet Redzhepov (Ramzi)
Painting - 70 x 47 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 18.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,111
Urbain brutalisme, Bleu Majorelle - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$280
Angel Dibond
Cédric Brion Studio Clavicule Pics
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,121
Sur la banquise - Ourse polaire
Véronique Laffaille
Sculpture - 24.5 x 50 x 20 cm Sculpture - 9.6 x 19.7 x 7.9 inch
$4,347
Neocubistic Study II
Alexander Valchev
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 20 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.1 inch
$359
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!