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Neue Kammern Enfilade IV. From the Neue Kammern Enfilades series
Celia Rogge
Photography - 101.6 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 inch
$8,250
Poolside Ladies
Slim Aarons
Photography - 76 x 101 x 0.01 cm Photography - 29.9 x 39.8 x 0 inch
$3,441
Beta Collage 71
Michael Filonow
Photography - 50.8 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 40 x 0.1 inch
$760
Oceani Mentali n°9
Luca Izzo
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.4 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.2 inch
$388 $350
Rock Extract
Antoine Gaussin
Photography - 110 x 110 x 1 cm Photography - 43.3 x 43.3 x 0.4 inch
$5,106
Uncharted Speed
Cheraine Collette
Photography - 67 x 100 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$4,440
Mount Fuji and the Heron
Leandro Frutos
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$780
No prostitution Here Geisha
Philippe Shangti
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.5 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.2 inch
$16,650
The Feast of Trimalchio
AES + F
Photography - 42 x 55.5 x 1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 21.9 x 0.4 inch
$3,330
Entre Vous & Nous
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$677
Calligraphing en l'air #6
Cody Choi
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1.5 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
$1,930
HRH Princess Elizabeth With HRH The Prince of Wales
Cecil Beaton
Photography - 76.2 x 76.2 cm Photography - 30 x 30 inch
$1,274
Dalmatian pelican - Pelecanus crispus
Ivaylo Zafirov
Photography - 37 x 50 cm Photography - 14.6 x 19.7 inch
$233
Goose-in-Love-with-Boy-in-Love-with-Goose ; Rumination Concerning Interspecies and Same-Sex Marriage, Erie Country fair, Hambourg, New York
Les Krims
Photography - 38.7 x 49.8 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.2 x 19.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,332
Terra Incognita - Le Grand Canyon
Guillaume Pépy
Photography - 70 x 105 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 inch
$1,554
Stubborn optimiste
Nina Schipoff
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,665
Picasso Preside la Corrida - Frejus, 1962
Lucien Clergue
Photography - 45.7 x 55.9 cm Photography - 18 x 22 inch
$12,000
The Basketball game
Paul Almasy
Photography - 69.5 x 49.6 x 1 cm Photography - 27.4 x 19.5 x 0.4 inch
$971
Pink or black 03, Camargue
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 90 x 60 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 inch
$555
Femme dans le désert
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$777
Nouveau départ
Xavier-Alexandre Pons
Photography - 100 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$2,331
Bicicletas, Crianças e Outras Alegrias
Geraldo Pestalozzi
Photography - 29.7 x 42 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 inch
$555
Grandma Divers IX
Alain Schroeder
Photography - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$2,775
Miami Stripes 09 11bn
Luca Artioli
Photography - 114.3 x 177.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 45 x 70 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Notre-Dame de Paris
Justina Napiorkowska
Photography - 30 x 30 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 inch
$277
Alice Heine (1857-1925), épouse du Prince Albert 1er de Monaco, buste en marbre blanc par Fabio Stecchi (1855-1928), 1892, Carole. Palais Princier de Monaco
Julien Spiewak
Photography - 70 x 50 x 5 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 2 inch
$4,329
Repos II - série oiseaux
Henry Ausloos
Photography - 40 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,526
Free Spirit nº1
Pierre Cherix
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$499
Abstraction urbaine #5
Guillaume Chevallard
Photography - 49 x 69 x 2.9 cm Photography - 19.3 x 27.2 x 1.1 inch
$1,332
Insta(nt)llation - Completion. 1/ 3
Eszter Poroszlai
Photography - 30 x 30 x 3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch
$1,165
Debbie Harry, Coney Island, NY. August 7, 1977
Bob Gruen
Photography - 27.9 x 35.6 x 5.1 cm Photography - 11 x 14 x 2 inch
$1,400
Paranoïd #11
David De Beyter
Photography - 30 x 41 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 16.1 x 0.1 inch
$388
Manufactura 3
Oriol Texidor
Photography - 40 x 50 x 7 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 2.8 inch
$1,399
Peak Mid Winter #1
Jonathan Moore
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.01 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$965
The classroom
Magnus Wahman
Photography - 40 x 73 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 28.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,332
Hydrocarbure
Stéphane Martin
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.04 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$166
Telltale
Solomon Jamy Brown
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.05 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,275
Lady from the past
Eliana Barbosa
Photography - 30.5 x 30.5 x 2.5 cm Photography - 12 x 12 x 1 inch
$610
Taste of Blood
Vava Venezia
Photography - 70 x 70 x 1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,332
003- Les petits peuples de Sibérie
Jacques Langevin
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0 inch
$1,332
Prayer for Kinshasa
Thiemoko Claude Diarra
Photography - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,887
Hope and happiness
John Mastrogiacomo
Photography - 40.6 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 24 x 2 inch
$1,105
Jeanne Moreau / Paris Match
Jack Garofalo
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$2,131
Rothko Chapel, Houston
Hervé Gloaguen
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
$1,998
Blurry minds #2
Rani Bruchstein
Photography - 90 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$4,834
Jeune indien jouant avec sa colombe
Sabrina & Roland Michaud
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,332
Lac des cygnes
Peter Zupnik
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,831
Wrapped series untitled #2
Robert Mack
Photography - 86.4 x 58.4 x 2.5 cm Photography - 34 x 23 x 1 inch
$4,250
Les marches du Louvre #01
Hannaka
Photography - 32 x 26 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
$655
1 - La descente de Persephone
Mita Vostok
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$888
Looking for balance
Danielle Mano Bella
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,665
''Gunina''en Givenchy, Paris le 5 Août 1955 Elle Magazine
Georges Dambier
Photography - 74 x 68 x 2 cm Photography - 29.1 x 26.8 x 0.8 inch
$3,885
Mr et Mme Hulot - Photographie scène de vie en bord de mer
Denis Morel
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$488
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!