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!

Search by Image

Save your search and find it in your favorites

13/100 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Categories

Subcategories

White

Joyful Moment 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Children

Le vol de la Libellule

N° 1065 The best place

L’ombre d’un doute

Un point c’est tout (Almost Kandinsky)

Ballerina No. 3, Series XXVI

Ballerina No. 2, Series XXVI

Keep it Unreal

Fiesta gatuna

Untitled 051

Untitled 020

Vase Azur 2

Vase Terra 5

Bouquet of pionies

No borders for beauty

Windows 15 (1)

Windows 16

If Only You Knew the Power of the Dark Side

After the Dance

In the rays of the winter sun

Tout doux

La Danza

Planisferio, Europa and Asia Triptych, From the Cartographies series

Mona Lisa

Blue planet (ciel et nuages)

Napoléon

Embrace of Sweet Monstrum

Bouquet

Xenestela 13. From The Series Xenestela

Imagine life

The Cosmic Spirit 8. From The Cosmic Spirit Series

The Cosmic Spirit 7. From The Cosmic Spirit Series

The Cosmic Spirit 5. From The Cosmic Spirit Series

Flowers are dancing

Morning Rose

Etude Desseins 1

Tête au carré

Intimité

The bastard

Champions' painting - BMW

Arte y ciencia

Temple lotus. Colorful.

Dante's Reflection

Cage / Sans titre

I Hate Humans

Black&white #3

Black&white #3

Snoopy Love

Nuit avec l'Ours

Pichet espagnol

Untitled

Después de la Data, Diptych

Aprender a caminar y salir del pozo gravitacional, Diptych

Ex Boyfriends 9

Ex Boyfriends 8

Hard Black

Balance

King Pop Blue

King Pop Pink

Second Date, Last Date

Knight

Winter Trees

Riverside

Snow Covered

Trompeta y Flores

Anaxita constricta

Debout

Pink evening at Malmøya