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

Here's your tea, darling!

Enfant au Turban

Henry V, from Much Ado about Shakespeare

Spatio-temporel

Avalanche

In search of silence

Untitled

Les livres blancs

Abstract 2341

Abstract S2301

Abstract 2325

Abstract 2307

Abstract 2306

Abstract 22122

Abstract 22119

Abstract 22107

Three Goddesses and Fallen God

Every day is a gift

Paint your dream (AP)

Between remembering and forgetting n°2

In the Mountains

Castle

Ombre Grigie

Pop Artstrong

Medusas’ Protective Gaze

Untitled - Tiles

Silver Earth

Sheep Portfolio 1

Pont de pierre dans la brume

Composition

Visual Dance - White and Gold - Framed

Modou, blanc jaune

Déjeuner fantôme

Orogenèse XXIII (SG238)

Amalt

Monolanche

Catch of the day

Elastic thoughts

Les uns contre les autres... (Esprit voile)

Peinture abstraite 01-2025-9

Peinture abstraite 01-2025-10

Dog Save the Queen

Acquisition

Joy II

Pop Snoopy

82

85

Still sounds

Andalouse White (LC77)

The storm

Best Moments III

L'absence

Voyage en hiver 1

Smiling into your eyes

Atlas & Gold Glove

White Astronout

Close from far away

Santé

Hercules in Flight

David in Meditation with Neon Design

Sans titre #4

Nupcias

Untituled 1

Points et lignes

Composition 307

Composition 305