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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Painting, Plaisir, Binokl

Binokl

Painting - 130 x 97 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 1.2 inch

$2,781

Sculpture, Untiteled M11, Adelina Virga

Adelina Virga

Sculpture - 40 x 10 x 9.4 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 3.9 x 3.7 inch

$1,874

Painting, Circle, Alexandre Idier

Alexandre Idier

Painting - 41 x 41 x 11 cm Painting - 16.1 x 16.1 x 4.3 inch

$1,934

Painting, Sin título, Miquel Ponce

Miquel Ponce

Painting - 46 x 38 x 4 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 x 1.6 inch

$604

Painting, Modulation, Piero Cipolat

Piero Cipolat

Painting - 77 x 77 x 4 cm Painting - 30.3 x 30.3 x 1.6 inch

$1,717

Painting, Fragments, Olga Dak

Olga Dak

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

$700

Painting, Artwork 4, Cécile Lacombe

Cécile Lacombe

Painting - 55 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch

$665

Painting, CBS-16, Martin Singer

Martin Singer

Painting - 47 x 30 x 3 cm Painting - 18.5 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch

$786

Painting, 20.08, Mccain McMurray

Mccain McMurray

Painting - 40.6 x 20.3 x 5.8 cm Painting - 16 x 8 x 2.3 inch

$545

Design, Voiles (1), Alice Aladjem

Alice Aladjem

Design - 150 x 90 x 25 cm Design - 59.1 x 35.4 x 9.8 inch

$3,446

Sculpture, untitled, Ilona Kálnoky

Ilona Kálnoky

Sculpture - 21 x 23 x 3 cm Sculpture - 8.3 x 9.1 x 1.2 inch

$725

Fine Art Drawings, Volutes, PhilQuatre

PhilQuatre

Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 15 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 5.9 x 0 inch

$193

Painting, Composition 301, Xiu

Xiu

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

$846

Print, Concept #100, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50 x 33.3 x 0.1 cm Print - 19.7 x 13.1 x 0 inch

$157

Painting, Then & now, Jean Feinberg

Jean Feinberg

Painting - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.1 cm Painting - 20 x 16 x 0 inch

$3,900

Painting, Order & Chaos, L'Atlas

L'Atlas

Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch

$8,342

Print, Levant, Joël Chasseriau

Joël Chasseriau

Print - 60 x 60 x 2 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch

$1,040

Fine Art Drawings, Airsya, Sumit Mehndiratta

Sumit Mehndiratta

Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 108 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 42.5 x 0 inch

$1,439

Fine Art Drawings, Flow basics, Sumit Mehndiratta

Sumit Mehndiratta

Fine Art Drawings - 23 x 60 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.1 x 23.6 x 0 inch

$1,656

Painting, No.482, Raphael Durans

Raphael Durans

Painting - 100 x 92 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 36.2 x 1.2 inch

$4,836

Painting, Modern 5., Iryna Kastsova

Iryna Kastsova

Painting - 60 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch

$1,451

Painting, CG2, Thomas Danel

CG2

Thomas Danel

Painting - 146 x 127 x 2 cm Painting - 57.5 x 50 x 0.8 inch

$4,110

Painting, Solene, Jean Branchet

Jean Branchet

Painting - 100 x 100 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 inch

$2,055

Print, Concept #108, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50 x 33.3 x 0.1 cm Print - 19.7 x 13.1 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Index #13, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Painting, Tahaa, Nash

Nash

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

$363

Painting, Untitled 10, Jesús Perea

Jesús Perea

Painting - 30 x 30 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 inch

$1,602

Painting, Untitled 8, Jesús Perea

Jesús Perea

Painting - 30 x 30 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 inch

$1,602

Print, Format #1001, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #981, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #978, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #835, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Painting, Composition 305, Xiu

Xiu

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

$725

Painting, Composition 302, Xiu

Xiu

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

$846

Painting, Rust cage, Ludovic Mercher

Ludovic Mercher

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

$1,209

Print, Format #952, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #940, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #860, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #857, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #856, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Layerform #8, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 33.3 x 50 x 0.1 cm Print - 13.1 x 19.7 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #803, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #785, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #784, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157

Print, Format #760, Petr Strnad

Petr Strnad

Print - 50.8 x 38.1 x 0.1 cm Print - 20 x 15 x 0 inch

$157