By Maria Rumyantseva
‘The Symphony in White No.1 The White Girl’ (1862, National Gallery of Art Washington D.C.) by the American painter James Whistler is a not just a portrait of a young woman, Joanna Hiffernan, wearing a simple white gown, but an experimentation in color, pattern and texture. Whistler moved away from the conventional norms of grand portrait painting by embracing the concept of “art for art’s sake”. The Victorian contemporaries found it scandalous - too informal and immoral - and the painting was rejected by the Academy. Here Whistler’s focus was not on any moral message or narrative, but rather on the art itself. As the musical name suggests, this portrait is an emotional ode to the female beauty and to the color white. The portrait is a minimalist abstract depiction of the whiteness of the dress, the white lily in the lady’s hand in contrast with her red hair, the beige muslin in the background as well and the fur of the bear under her feet.
Later that century, the impressionists painted white to express their vision of nature’s tones and colors. In Claude Monet’s snowscape “The Magpie” (1868-1869), the snow is painted using a plethora of shades, and yet, the viewer has no doubt that they are looking at white snow. The solitary magpie sits on the wooden gate and the scene seems frozen in the winter moment. Monet’s loose and instantaneous style of painting, now known as impressionism, revolutionized the western art world. The black of the bird, the fence and the pine and oak tree trunks contrast with the lighter shades of the sky in the background and highlight the snow’s white and blue-grey tones that seem to ripple under the sunlight.
One of the most well-known twentieth century art pieces is the ‘Suprematist Composition: White on White’ (1918) by Kazimir Malevich. Painted just after the October Revolution, it was one of the most radical paintings of the time, creating controversy that sparks debate to this day. It depicts two abstract white squares, one in a slightly warmer tone, set against each another at an angle. Stripped of all things representational and natural, Malevich uses the reduced pure geometry of white as an infinite space into which the eye of the viewer sinks in.
Malevich was fascinated with modern technology of the time, particularly the airplane. He wanted his white squares to show movement and create a sense of floating in space with no boundaries. The artist’s almost scientific approach to art neglected any culture specific or historical references, paving the way for modern art. White for Malevich was a colour of a higher spiritual state, of utopia, and his theories of Suprematism called for the abolition of all things natural and realistic.
“I have overcome the lining of the colored sky…Swim in the white of free abyss, infinity is before you.” - Kazimir Malevich
Le Corbusier’s ‘Villa Savoye’ (1928-1931) was a pivotal point in the Modernism movement and is one of the most significant contributions to modern architecture in the 20th century. Striped of any unnecessary decorations and details, Corbusier´s white building is known to represent the origins of modern architecture. Here the focus is geometric volumes, on open space and free plan and function - white was a logical non color choice for representing these minimalistic ideas. Le Corbusier famously stated that “by law all buildings should be white” and he believed that whitewashed walls had a spiritual and moral cleansing power. Striped of individuality, white was seen as perfect tool for constructing architecture that was contemporary and forward-thinking. Le Corbusier, like many other architects of the Modernist movement, believed that this clean aesthetic bestowed a timeless airy and crisp feel to any interior and that it would always be ‘en vogue’.
One of the most recognizable universal symbols of pacifist ideas is the white dove. In 1949, as the world was beginning to recover from World War 2, Pablo Picasso created the lithograph ‘Dove of Peace’, also knows as ‘La Colombe’, for the World Peace Congress in Paris. The white dove is symbolic of purity and peace, contrasting with the stark black background, and sending a powerful anti-war message, calling for disarmament and reconciliation. Picasso was a strong believer that art played a significant role in society and should be used to address the political issues of the time. The artist continued to show his artistic commitment to conflict resolution by repeating the white dove symbol in his future works.
