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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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Painting, 3108, Javier Martínez

3108

Javier Martínez

Painting - 89 x 116 x 2 cm Painting - 35 x 45.7 x 0.8 inch

$22,540

Fine Art Drawings, Cat, Novella Parigini

Cat

Novella Parigini

Fine Art Drawings - 67 x 47.5 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 26.4 x 18.7 x 0 inch

$636

Painting, Shirt, Rebecca Ness

Shirt

Rebecca Ness

Painting - 33 x 25.4 x 1.5 cm Painting - 13 x 10 x 0.6 inch

$18,500 $17,575

Fine Art Drawings, Amazone, André Ferrand

Amazone

André Ferrand

Fine Art Drawings - 64 x 51 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.2 x 20.1 x 0.4 inch

$798

Design, Banc Skate, Art Pej

Banc Skate

Art Pej

Design - 45 x 80 x 21 cm Design - 17.7 x 31.5 x 8.3 inch

$624

Fine Art Drawings, Untitled, Lia Kaufman

Untitled

Lia Kaufman

Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 51 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 20.1 inch

$770

Painting, Silver Roots, Emmi Iida

Silver Roots

Emmi Iida

Painting - 118 x 89 x 3 cm Painting - 46.5 x 35 x 1.2 inch

$13,870

Painting, La Revanche, Clara Breuil

La Revanche

Clara Breuil

Painting - 80 x 80 x 5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 2 inch

$4,623

Print, Barcelona, Laura Jordan

Barcelona

Laura Jordan

Print - 70 x 70 x 5 cm Print - 27.6 x 27.6 x 2 inch

$2,774

Painting, Snoopy love, Vili

Snoopy love

Vili

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

$81 $73

Painting, The link, Arnaud

The link

Arnaud

Painting - 122 x 122 x 5 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 2 inch

$10,981

Sculpture, Untitled, Ray Chan

Untitled

Ray Chan

Sculpture - 36 x 30 x 25 cm Sculpture - 14.2 x 11.8 x 9.8 inch

$1,734

Sculpture, Jonas, Qaligraf

Jonas

Qaligraf

Sculpture - 263 x 59 x 0.1 cm Sculpture - 103.5 x 23.2 x 0 inch

$6,573

Photography, Untitled #10, Josef Nadj

Untitled #10

Josef Nadj

Photography - 25 x 30 cm Photography - 9.8 x 11.8 inch

$1,271

Painting, Horizon, Santial

Horizon

Santial

Painting - 116 x 83 x 3 cm Painting - 45.7 x 32.7 x 1.2 inch

$5,201

Sculpture, Vase ouvert, Wanrong Song

Vase ouvert

Wanrong Song

Sculpture - 75 x 30 x 30 cm Sculpture - 29.5 x 11.8 x 11.8 inch

$5,201

Fine Art Drawings, Invincible, Emily Redd

Invincible

Emily Redd

Fine Art Drawings - 86.4 x 63.5 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 34 x 25 x 0.1 inch

$2,900

Fine Art Drawings, Woman, Simon Goldberg

Woman

Simon Goldberg

Fine Art Drawings - 12 x 15 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 4.7 x 5.9 x 0 inch

$347

Painting, Great Hope, Maria Petrova

Great Hope

Maria Petrova

Painting - 90 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch

$3,699

Painting, Le jour d'après, Sunra

Le jour d'après

Sunra

Painting - 100 x 100 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1 inch

$3,236

Fine Art Drawings, Figure Sketch, Robert Goodnough

Figure Sketch

Robert Goodnough

Fine Art Drawings - 30.5 x 40.6 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 12 x 16 x 0.1 inch

$1,500

Painting, Kopf, Heike Lydia Grüß

Kopf

Heike Lydia Grüß

Painting - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch

$1,387

Print, Sea edge, April Gornik

Sea edge

April Gornik

Print - 50 x 73 x 1 cm Print - 19.7 x 28.7 x 0.4 inch

$1,734

Painting, 03082022, SoemOne

03082022

SoemOne

Painting - 130 x 94 x 4 cm Painting - 51.2 x 37 x 1.6 inch

$4,508

Painting, 9 Marzo, Lucia Bergamini

9 Marzo

Lucia Bergamini

Painting - 71.1 x 101.6 x 1.5 cm Painting - 28 x 40 x 0.6 inch

$3,450

Painting, Kaleidoskop, Iren Orlova

Kaleidoskop

Iren Orlova

Painting - 115 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.3 x 35 x 0.8 inch

$2,196

Sculpture, Hourglass, Osamu Tanimoto

Hourglass

Osamu Tanimoto

Sculpture - 25 x 17 x 15 cm Sculpture - 9.8 x 6.7 x 5.9 inch

$462

Painting, Snoopy, Oli Art

Snoopy

Oli Art

Painting - 61 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch

$1,800

Print, Look at me inside, Sapo

Look at me inside

Sapo

Print - 42 x 30 x 1 cm Print - 16.5 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch

$92 $83

Fine Art Drawings, Sans Titre, Nina Khemchyan

Sans Titre

Nina Khemchyan

Fine Art Drawings - 17.5 x 17.5 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 6.9 x 6.9 x 0.1 inch

$1,271

Print, Audith Rhodes, Dain

Audith Rhodes

Dain

Print - 30.5 x 25.5 x 2.54 cm Print - 12 x 10 x 1 inch

$2,150 $1,720

Painting, Fauvette, Witold Pyzik

Fauvette

Witold Pyzik

Painting - 120 x 67 x 5 cm Painting - 47.2 x 26.4 x 2 inch

$5,779

Painting, Double trouble, ODart

Double trouble

ODart

Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch

$1,503

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