If you’re in Naples, Florida, stop by to see the retrospective exhibition of Victory Vasarely that displays over 100 serigraphs, lithographs, gouache paintings, drawings and a few small sculptures. Hosted by the Naples Art Institute, the art show offers a beautiful look at Op Art you can rarely see around here.
Hungarian-French artist, Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) is the leader of the Op Art (optokinetic art) movement, and his innovations in color perception and optical illusion had influenced numerous artists to come. Today his hand-pulled art prints sell for $4,000-30,000 a piece. Vasarely was 90 years old when he died in Paris, France.
Victor Vasarely, Op Art, The Absolute Eye exhibition, Naples, FL 2024
Better known as OP Art, Optokinetic art movement relies on mathematical principles to construct repetitive abstract shapes, stripes, grids or spirals to catch the involuntary eye movements we make when following moving patterns. In other worlds, this art stimulates the optokinetic response in us. Op Art takes this response as the basis to visually trick us but normally explores a wider artistic vision and techniques in art.
Victor Vasarely, Op Art, the Absolute Eye exhibition, Naples, 2024
5 Facts about Victor Vasarely and his Op Art:
1. From Medicine to Mastermind
Before becoming the father of Op Art, Vasarely actually pursued a career in medicine! He switched paths mid-study, drawn to the power of visual communication. Later, he studied graphic design at the private Műhely School in Budapest and in 1930, he moved to Paris to work in advertising and design.
“Vasarely’s early geometric abstract research was inspired by purely abstract elements in nature and urban spaces. In 1947 he spent the summer on a small island off the coast of Brittany, called Belle-Île-en- Mer. He observed the polished stones in the sand, examined the prismatic behavior of the sea, as well as the refraction and reflection of light, the effect of creating space by shifting the viewer’s point of vision on a flat surface and the contrast of light and shadow that generates a vibration in the sight. This would mark the beginning of a true abstract approach for Vasarely. Although he later referred to this time in his life as “the wrong path,” it resulted in an important evolution in his work. It added more rounded elements to his paintings. When he returned to his previous geometric style, it was with the inclusion of dynamic rounded forms that seemed to bulge outward from the painting or collapse inward from the surface. These forms tricked the eye into experiencing that the image was moving. That kinetic illusion, combined with the three-dimensionality of the images on Vasarely’s canvases, became the foundation for the iconic aesthetic we now call Op Art.”
Naples Art Institute
Victor Vasarely, Op Art serigraph at the Absolute eye show, Naples, 2024
‘The extreme variety of its form leads the advertising designer to mute his personality.’
Victor Vasarely
2. Architect of 3-D Perception
Vasarely didn’t just paint illusions; he aimed to engineer them. His works use geometry, repetition, and color play to manipulate how viewers perceive depth, movement, and even color itself. Thanks to his jobs in advertising and graphic design the artist learned enough about human psychology to understand how we process visual information.
“Our eyes are subjected to a constant flood of visual stimuli. In order to process and interpret them, the subconscious brain compares the images with memories and experiences. That’s what distinguishes personal perception from the actual physiological image. Large objects in the foreground, small objects in the back and lines converging at a vanishing point. As soon as the eye receives signals like these, it perceives even a two-dimensional image as spatial. That is why artists usually use so-called central perspective for their naturalistic depictions – not least of all in pictorial representations of cities. They work with lines that converge as they recede into the depths of space, just as they seem to do in the perception of reality. Vasarely, for his part, made frequent use of axonometric projection a geometrical method of constructing three-dimensional forms. The parallel side lines are drawn tipped over to one side at equal angles. This has a bewildering effect on visual perception: does the picture really depict a three-dimensional object?”
Naples Art Institute
His serigraphs depicting Zebras are considered the earliest examples of Op art. In the left corner we can see that this print is numbered and signed by the artist in graphite pencil.
3. Op Art for Everyone
Unlike much avant-garde art, Vasarely believed in democratizing art experiences. He embraced public art commissions and architectural integrations, bringing Op Art to everyday spaces like buildings and metro stations. Influenced by the Futurists, Constructivists and Dadaists, Op Art spread all over Europe and came to the US in the 60s.
Victor Vasarely, Op Art, The Absolute Eye exhibition, Naples, FL 2024
Vega Structures
“Vega Structures is one of the best-known and most emblematic series produced by Vasarely at the height of his career named after the brightest star in the northern hemisphere’s summer night sky. Inspired by contemporary news reports about mysterious signals received from distant galaxies, Vasarely named many of his works after stars and constellations. The Vega pictures rely on convex- concave distortions of a grid-like network, a sophisticated combination of the cube and the sphere, symbolically referring to the two-way motion of the light that emanates from pulsating stars, and to the functioning of condensing galaxies and the expanding universe.
Through works such as “Vega-Fel-VR” (1971) and “Trivega” (1981), Serigraphs, the artist seeks to evoke the elusive universe of the galaxies, the cosmic pulsations and the biological mutation of the cell. The common denominator in these works is Vasarely’s realization that two dimensions can be expanded into three simply by deforming the basic grid, and that, depending on the degree of enlargement or reduction, the elements in the deformed grid can be transformed into rhombuses or ellipses.” Naples Art Institute
Victor Vasarely, Op Art, The Absolute Eye exhibition, Naples, FL 2024
4. More Than Meets the Eye
Vasarely saw his art as a bridge between science and art. He incorporated mathematical principles and studied perceptual psychology to achieve the dynamic, almost psychedelic optical effects in his Op Art.
In 1955, Victor Vasarely published his thoughts about Op Art in the Yellow Manifesto. In his writing, the artist recorded his ideas that he called Kineticism. He believed that art should be based on scientific principles to create a sense of movement, energy, depth expressed in geometric forms and optical illusions, rather than copying nature.
5. Beyond Canvas
Op Art wasn’t just about grid-like paintings. According to Tate, Vasarely experimented with various mediums, including sculptures, tapestries, and even architectural facades, creating illusory, flickering effects of depth, perspective, and motion. There are a few small sculptures presented at the show illustrating his interest in other materials and techniques.
Victor Vasarely, Op Art, The Absolute Eye exhibition, Naples, FL 2024Check out this cool shop Custom Creative Custom Creative, where you can custom-design gifts for yourself, family, and friends. They offer custom-printed t-shirts, coasters, picture frames, tumblers, and more! Take a look!”
What is a serigraph?
In the ” Absolute Eye” the majority of art we see are vibrant serigraphs produced by the artist. A serigraph is a a stencil-based printing process normally called the silkscreen printing. Warhol is the most famous modern artist who used this printing method to create his art. Roy Lichtenstein comes in second.
Stencils: A separate stencil is created for each color used in the artwork. These stencils typically use a photo-sensitive emulsion on a fine mesh screen (originally silk, now often polyester or nylon). Areas left open on the stencil will allow ink to pass through moving it with a squeegee.
Layering Ink: Each stencil is placed on a frame and ink is pushed through the open areas onto the substrate (usually paper, but other materials can be used too). This process is repeated for each color, building up the image layer by layer, resulting in thick, vivid colors to complete the image. Each layer must align and print perfectly to create a finished artwork, which requires some skill and patience from the artist. The high-quality inks produce rich textures and colors.
Hand-Crafted Touch: While automated machines exist, silkscreens are usually made as limited editions because each layer is hand-pulled, each stencil is hand-made, and each full-color serigraph is numbered and signed by the artist. Therefore, such prints are limited editions by nature and have the appeal to art collectors. Subject wise, this latest form of printmaking is the easiest to learn and doesn’t usually have the refinement of image like lithography or intaglio do.
Victor Vasarely, Op Art, The Absolute Eye exhibition, Naples, FL 2024
After walking through the exhibition and getting to know the artist, I was impressed with Victor Vasarely’s ability and mathematical precision to draft geometric forms – this is something I find very difficult to do in my art. As I’ve done silkscreen and other printmaking methods, I can appreciate the artist’s attention to detail and precision with which he worked to produce his op art prints.
More importantly, his thorough understanding of geometry and mathematical perspective led him to discover his own ideal of beauty comprising the Universe. Instead of copying visual cues from Nature like trees or birds, the artist studied nature to see the underlying structure of everything living. While Op Art or geometric abstraction is not my favorite art movement, I can see how it can play its role in other artists painting including mine.
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Perhaps the most dominant art form of the last 100 years, film has an important…
Tuesday Matinees
Enjoy concerts featuring leading international and local ensembles in programs o…
Art & Music,Jazz at LACMA,Latin Sounds
LACMA offers in-person art classes for kids, teens, and adults, offering the cha…
Random International’s Rain Room (2012) is an immersive environment of…
Rain Room
Artist Robert Irwin’s work in the last five decades has investigated perception…
Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (Shafted) features her distinctive use of advertising…
Band (2006) may qualify as Richard Serra’s magnum opus, representing the fullest…
LACMA’s Modern Art collection features primarily European and American art from…
LACMA’s Acquisitions Group and Art Council members share a deep affinity for the…
Art Councils,Acquisition Groups,Art of the Middle East: CONTEMPORARY,Asian Art Council,Costume Council,Decorative Arts and Design Council,LENS: Photography Council,Modern and Contemporary Art Council,Prints and Drawings Council
Welcome to the employment page of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. To see a…
Jobs,Careers,Internships,Volunteer
Join museum educators, artists, curators, and experts for artist talks, virtual…
Create+Collaborate
In Golden Hour, over 70 artists and three photography collectives offer an aesth…
Established in 1967, the Conservation Center at LACMA supports the museum’s comm…
4 Best Brands of Colored Pencils: are they worth the splurge?
Are you an artist looking for the best quality colored pencils? In this episode (that’s also available in a video format on YouTube), I reveal the top 4 brands that are worth the splurge. Plus, I’ll tell you about the most expensive colored pencils on the market! Whether you’re an artist, a student, or simply love to color, this video will help you choose the best colored pencils for your needs. If you’re tired of low-quality colored pencils and want to invest in the best, then this podcast episode is for you. I’ll compare each brand’s price, softness, and overall quality to help you make the most informed decision for your art supplies. Don’t miss out on seeing the best colored pencils for your next masterpiece! Warning. The episode is highly informative review of the top colored pencil brands!
Art, creativity & commercial success: the infamous fate of some famous artists
In this episode I discuss the birth of the 19th-century art movements, some famous artists and their career success. I share one of my personal life’s lessons in the arts and what you need to pay attention to working on your art and career as an artist. You can see the art and read here: https://veronicasart.com/the-infamous-fate-of-some-famous-artists/
If you find this episode interesting, share it with your friends and review the show!
Subscribe & rate this podcast on Spotify and Apple | Show your support for the podcast: here | Host: Veronica Winters, MFA | veronicasart.com
Andrew McCullough is a studio potter based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. After taking some time away from pottery to further his education–and work in New Brunswick politics–he appeared as a competitor on The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down’s first season. He is now opening a community pottery studio in downtown Fredericton to make pottery more accessible in his area.
The preferred printing supplier for potters everywhere! SmallDogPrints.com
The people on the show The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown seemed very kind and without nastiness. What the show really kind?
The show was just as kind as what you would imagine from watching it. All the relationships that we had were super genuine and we truly wanted every person to do as best as they could.
Did you feel prepared?
I definitely felt rusty going into the show. I was one of the only people in the cast who wasn’t doing it close to full-time before hand. However I was confident of my ability on the wheel so I said if I can shine there I’ll be happy.
Were you given an opportunity to practice the things that are being presented for you to do that day?
Yeah, we had some of the challenges given to us in advance, so we could plan and prepare at home. While we were in Vancouver we also had one time a week where we could go to a place called Mud Lab studio in Vancouver to practice whatever we wanted in preparation for the show.
When the show aired how did that impact your life?
The biggest impact the show had for me was giving me a chance to step back into the pottery world on my own terms. Like I said, I had been out of the world and now with myself being reintroduced to Canada nationally I can take the opportunity to do what ever I want which is to open a community pottery studio.
Do you feel like your business is going to be stronger as a result of being on the show?
I absolutely feel that being on the show will help my business and the studio that we are creating here. Getting that sort of national attention can only be helpful. Now what matters is what we do with that little bit of extra platform.
What is one thing that you would do differently if you were on the show again?
That’s a really good question. My answer is not going to be what happened on the show but I would have wanted to spend even more time with my fellow contestants outside of filming. We spent all of our free time together I wish the times I stayed home in the hotel room I would have actually stayed out with them because they are all amazing people.
Clay projects are magical! However, managing clay is one of the more labor-intensive tasks in the art room. You have to prepare the clay and slip, shift projects around as they dry, load the kiln, bump the temperature, cool it down, unload the kiln—and repeat. The process is beautiful but it demands time and effort. If you only have one day and a classroom full of energetic students, try single-fire pottery! This time-saving technique skips the bisque stage and lets you build and glaze in one class period. Bring the joy of clay to your students without sacrificing creativity or quality.
Let’s explore how single-fire pottery can turn your art room into a hub of stress-free creativity!
What is single-fire pottery and how does it work?
Single-fire pottery lets students build and glaze clay pieces on the same day. This saves time and uses the glaze’s adhesive properties to your advantage. Normally, you probably warn students not to glaze the bottoms of their pieces to prevent sticking to the kiln. While you still want to do this, with single-fire pottery, use that stickiness to your strategic advantage and streamline the process! Glazing wet clay ensures pieces stay securely attached during firing.
Important Tip:
It’s crucial to match the cone of the clay with the cone of the glaze to ensure a successful single-fire process. If you’re using a low-fire (05) clay, pair it with a low-fire (05) glaze. Mismatched clay and glaze cones can lead to underfiring, glaze defects, or incomplete bonding. Always double-check your clay and glaze compatibility to prevent issues and achieve optimal results!
Why try single-fire pottery?
Single-fire pottery isn’t just about saving time. It can transform how you and your students experience clay and how you steward your budget and resources.
Here are four reasons to embrace this innovative approach:
Conserve Energy Firing once per project uses less energy, making this method more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Reduce Material Loss Because you handle pieces less often, single-firing minimizes the risk of breakage.
Encourage Experimentation The wet glazing process introduces students to new techniques they can’t achieve with bisque-fired pieces.
Simplify Planning With fewer steps, you can focus more on the creative process and less on logistics.
How do I tell when it’s ready to fire?
Drying single-fire pottery can be tricky without the color changes in the clay to guide you. For a reliable method, try the temperature test. Simply feel the clay with the back of your hand. If it feels cooler than your skin, it still contains moisture and isn’t ready for the kiln. When the clay matches your skin temperature, it’s ready to fire! When in doubt, it’s always better to give it more time. Waiting four weeks, even in humid conditions, is usually enough to ensure your clay is thoroughly dry and ready for the kiln!
Are you ready to jump on the bandwagon? Here are four one-day projects to get you started!
1. Textured Landscape Tiles
Create clay landscape tiles that combine texture, layering, and glaze in one project. Start with a clay slab, trace a frame, sketch a landscape, and add texture. Glaze before adding elements like clouds, trees, and other small features. The glaze acts as the adhesive, eliminating the need for scoring and slipping. Glaze all the details and you’re done! Allow the tile to dry completely before firing for a vibrant, single-fired ceramic masterpiece.
For a breakdown of this lesson, including a planning guide and process photos, check out the Ceramic Landscape Lesson in FLEX Curriculum.
2. Coil Pots
How many times have you pulled coil pots from the kiln only to find separated coils? Avoid this heartbreak by having students build their coil vessels and apply glaze immediately. Follow your basic coil lesson. Scoring and slipping between coils is optional but recommended for added security. Once students construct their pots, glaze immediately. The glaze acts as an adhesive, helping the coils stick together and stay intact through the firing process. No more half-ruined pots lingering in your kiln!
If you don’t have a go-to coil pot lesson, no problem! FLEX Curriulum’sCoil Pottery Lesson is jam-packed with student-facing resources to ensure coil success.
3. Trinket Dishes
Put a creative spin on your coil lesson by building out instead of up! Students start by outlining a dish shape on paper and then build outward from the center with coils, shaping and curling as they go. Roll one long coil and wrap it around the perimeter to keep everything contained. Smooth the bottom side of the dish, flip it over, and immediately apply glaze to the top. Glazing immediately prevents smaller coils from shifting during firing.
Start with a basic pinch pot. Let students’ creativity transform it into a unique animal! Add features like legs, heads, tails, fins, or eyes to bring their animals to life. Glaze immediately. Scoring and slipping between pieces is optional since the glaze acts as the adhesive.
Single-fire pottery is more than just a time-saver—it’s a creative shift that can redefine how you and your students experience clay. It simplifies the clay process, freeing up time, energy, supplies, and kiln usage. Single-fire pottery also creates stronger, more durable projects since the glaze acts as an additional adhesive. With fewer steps and more opportunities for innovation, take just one day to explore the magic of single-fire pottery.
What are your student-favorite single-fire projects?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
What is the color white? Is it the titanium white in oil painting? Or is it the color of your skin, feather, cream, silk, snow, kitty, pearls, chess, lace, car, flowers, crystals, swans, wall paint, clouds and the moon? Or is it the white of a happy smile, hope, or the light of your soul? Is it the blinding sunlight, the whiteness of an angel’s wings or purity and innocence of a child? It seems that white represents no color. Yet, it means so much to us. The bride’s wedding gown. The white glow of the sublime. The ethereal beauty of a white Greco-Roman marble sculpture. White light. White face. White lilies. White room. White staircase. White dove. White snow. It’s either a clean start or cold emptiness. We see unity in the symbolism of white across many cultures but not all. White can mean either a wedding or a funeral.
Technically, white isn’t a specific “color” like red or blue. When all the wavelengths of visible light are present and reflected by an object, we perceive it as white. In simpler terms, white is “all colors of the rainbow combined.”
Ai-generated female face in neutral white hue.
What is the color white technically?
The color spectrum & white
Rainbow. What is the color white? | photo: Veronica WintersColor spectrum | Images https://www.freepik.com/ and https://pixabay.com/
All the colors we see exist on the visible light spectrum, a range of wavelengths our eyes can perceive. Each color corresponds to a specific wavelength of light. White is an achromatic color, which means it lacks a “hue.” White light is “all colors combined.” We perceive black when an object absorbs all wavelengths of light instead of reflecting them. An opposite to white, black is the absence of reflected light.
What is the color white? | photo: Veronica Winters
What is the color white in oil & acrylic painting?
Closeup of a white gown and metal from the Accolade, Edmund Blair Leighton (1852–1922), oil on canvas, 1901, height: 182.3 cm (71.7 in); width: 108 cm (42.5 in), private collection
While prehistoric art got created with a white chalk made of the mineral calcite, white oil paint has a different composition and history. In oil painting, the ideal opaque white is neither warm nor cool. For generations artists painted with lead white until the 19th century when everything changed. Companies began to mass-produce art supplies including watercolor and oil paint. No more hand-grinding of pigments!
White comes from substances like titanium dioxide, lead carbonate, calcite or zinc oxide. Zinc white has zinc pigments. Flake white is a softer, warmer white that used to have lead in it. Flake white is found in early Chinese painting. Kremnitz white, Venetian white, French white, and Dutch white were also based on lead carbonate and lead hydroxide. Flemish white is based on lead sulfate. Cool color, the Titanium white is the strongest and most opaque white used by most contemporary artists today. A vast majority of the manufactured white pigments don’t have toxic lead in them. However, such paint is a lot more brittle and susceptible to the environmental changes, especially if it’s mixed with the safflower oil and not the linseed oil.
A modern invention, acrylic white is a chemical-based paint that’s made of pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. It’s also made of plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Unlike oils, it’s water-based and dries super quickly. Used in house painting, acrylic paint dries to be water-resistant. Some artists love painting with acrylics while others don’t. Unique properties of each paint fit different creative personalities.
“Torso of river” statue fragment at the Palatine museum in Rome | Photo: Veronica WintersCanova, Napoleon’s sister, closeup of fabric in marble, Borghese gallery, Rome, Italy
What are the shades of white?
Duomo di Bergamo cathedral rose window wall. Near Milan, Italy. | look at all these shades of white! I absolutely love the use of color marble here. Also there are several different patterns and textures that describe the ornamentation of this cathedral. Beautiful!
While most people don’t think of white having shades, artists and creatives perceive a wide range of subtle variations of white while creating their art. Normally, we don’t see the difference between the shades of white unless we choose a wall paint in a hardware store or look at the neatly stacked rows of clothes in a shop.
Shades of white seen in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain
White should be neutral, but it’s often either warm or cool. Warm whites have a hint of yellow to create a sense of warmth and coziness. Ivory, eggshell, cream, antique white, vanilla, and beige are the shades of warm white.
Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, closeup of fabric and hand, 1625, Rome, Italy. This white marble has a warm tone because of warm light. The dodge’s palace in Venice, Italy. Here the white marble has a warm cast on the left side and a bluish color on the right.Neutral color of the white snow in Russia.
Cool whites have a bluish-grey undertone giving a sense of timeless airy feel. Alabaster, pearl, white smoke and snow come to mind describing cool whites. But not all snow scenes are created equal. Some snow scenes have warm, yellowish color and bluish shadows seen under the sun.
Shades of white could also lean towards a specific color like pink, peach or green. Seashell white is a soft, pinkish-white reminiscent of the delicate hues of seashells.
The crystal white tiara could literally be any color of the light projected onto it. Here it ranges from a purplish white to warm white.
One of my favorite artists is John Singer Sargent. I love his use of bold brushstrokes, color and richness of paint he achieved in his large-scale canvases.
John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw (1864-1932), 1892, 127.00 x 101.00 cm, oil on canvas, National Galleries of Scotland.https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/5396/0?overlay=download I’ve seen this painting hanging at the entrance to the art museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. The artist painted ultra wealthy individuals and often participated in the arrangement and choice of gowns on his models. According to the museum’s notes, living a lavish lifestyle, Gertrude had to sell several paintings including this one to the National Gallery of Scotland in 1925!
Regardless, I love how fluid and beautiful the white fabric is here. Look at all these shades of white!
John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw (1864-1932), a closeup of the painting revealing beautiful shades of white shifting from warm to neutral to cool white.Sir Frederic Leighton, Portrait of a Roman Lady (La Nanna), Oil on canvas Dimensions: 31 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches (80 x 52.1 cm), 1859, Philadelphia Museum of Art While her face appears artificial lacking life and character I love how the artist painted all these different white garments! They range from neutral white in her robe to a warm white of silk cover to a pinkish white skirt. Also, a single string of white pearls matches the warmth of the silk. The background has some white elements that are greyed down and subdued to bring the figure forward.Sir Frederic Leighton, Portrait of a Roman Lady (La Nanna), Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 31 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches (80 x 52.1 cm), 1859, Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Symbolism of White across Art History
Paul Delaroche, The execution of Lady Jane Grey, 1833, National Gallery, London, a closeup of hands and white gown. Photo: Veronica Winters | Here the white fabric is warm while the “grey” shadows are neutral and warm somewhat as well.Antonio Canova, Napoleon’s sister, Venus Victrix, 1805-08, closeup of fabric in marble, Borghese gallery, Rome, Italy | The light is warm hitting the marble casting bluish-grey shadows.
The symbolism of the color white is quite astonishing if we think about it. There are universal associations with this color as well as the nuanced meanings of white depending on culture or context. One color. Two opposite associations.
Positive associations with the color white
In Christianity, white represents purity, innocence, and divinity.
Think of the white angels, white robes of monks and heavenly figures, a white dove or the white lilies of the Virgin Mary.
The Ghent Altarpiece. Adoration of the Mystic Lamb: The Archangel Gabriel, 1432. Here, Gabriel brings the white lilies to Mary in the annunciation. These flowers mean purity and virginity. The archangel wears a white robe with beautiful pearls decorating the fabric.Dressed in a beautiful white gown, the heavenly figure of Mary soars on a white cloud. This is one of the most beautiful religious sculptures I’ve seen in the European churches.Abbott Handerson Thayer, Angel, 1887, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American ArtMichelangelo Caravaggio, a closeup of a painting “Rest on the Flight into Egypt”, 1597. We see an angel playing music wrapped in swirling white fabric.
While the white clothing is ceremonial of passing into another world or Heaven, the ethereal glow of white light represents heaven and the divine, spiritual purity, enlightenment and truth.
John Duncan, 1866-1945, Scottish, St.Bride, 1913 detail | Scottish National Gallery | White clothing is ceremonial of passing into another world or Heaven. It’s the color of the ascension into the Heavens.This is the official emblem of the pope with a dove or the Holy Spirit depicted in the center of it. I think I saw it in the Vatican, Italy. I love how Italian artists used colored marbles and stone to decorate the churches, placing the material on the floor and walls.A closeup of the Pope’s emblem showing the Holy Spirit
White dove or the Holy Spirit is a symbol of peace, forgiveness, hope, and love. In art, it forms the Trinity and flies in rays of sunlight with an olive branch in its beak.
Mexico City, MexicoPortrait of Pope, Leo X and his cousins, cardinals Giulio de’ Medici & Luigi de’ Rossi. Closeup detail of the white garment of the pope. Raphael, c. 1518-1520, oil on wood, 154 cm × 119 cm (61 in × 47 in), Uffizi, Florence.
White can symbolize hope, innocence, and royalty in ceremonies.
A white wedding gown means innocence and pure perfection especially of a young bride. White is the color of light and white pearls communicate similar symbolism.
Vladimir Makovsky, to the marriage (farewell), 1894; Russian Federation, oil on canvas, Samara Regional Museum of Fine Arts, Samara, Russia, Dimensions: 115 x 99 cm. | Here, although the bride wears a white gown and is about to get married, she is devastated by the normally joyful event. The artist commented on the common practice of parents giving their daughter to marry at a young age to fix the family’s financial situation.Fedotov, Matchmaking of a major, 1848 | This famous Russian painting carries similar symbolism where a young bride doesn’t want to marry an old man for money.
James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland, Image source: Frick Collection, NY., Henry Clay Frick Bequest, 1916.1.133
Accolade, Edmund Blair Leighton (1852–1922), oil on canvas, 1901, height: 182.3 cm (71.7 in); width: 108 cm (42.5 in), private collectionCloseup of a white gown and jewelry pieces from the Accolade, Edmund Blair Leighton (1852–1922), oil on canvas, 1901, height: 182.3 cm (71.7 in); width: 108 cm (42.5 in), private collection | White is the color of light, divinity, nobility and purity of the heart. White pearls also symbolize purity, wisdom, and sincerity. And let’s just say that these beautiful pearls make a great visual statement in paintings like this one!
White can represent royalty.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Napoleon on his Imperial Throne, 259 cm × 162 cm (102 in × 64 in), oil on canvas, 1806, Musée de l’Armée, Paris. | You’d be surprised, but this artwork wasn’t popular at the Paris Salon when he exhibited this monumental painting. It received vitriolic criticism mainly because Napoleon looked too artificial and Gothic. However, if you know other paintings by Ingres, this is the most elaborate one! Just like another French artist – Poussin, Ingres often received poor reception for his art at the Salon. Moreover, in the middle of his career he got so fed up with the criticism and poor receptions of his work that he began to exhibit his art in his studio and private apartments. A student of famous neoclassical painter David, Ingres took a different road in his vision of art than the contemporaries and critics didn’t get. In this painting you can certainly admire a perfect balance of color, lines, objects, textures, and symbols captured in one painting. The artist’s composition is a reversed triangle. Both composition and realistic textures are reminiscent of Jan van Eyck’s painting.
French artist, Ingres puts a lot of symbolism into this painting depicting Napoleon as a ruler blessed by God. Napoleon looks like a religious icon. The artist bestows a Roman-like golden laurel crown onto his head and paints a circular-shaped throne behind him to suggest the divine power of the ruler. White ermine fur encircles Napoleon’s neck – the symbol of royalty. The emblem of bees seen throughout the Vatican can be noticed on this lush, red cloak. The golden bees represent immortality and resurrection, while the Eagle represents military might. You can read about the life and work of the artist in a concise book titled “Ingres” by Karin H. Grimme.
The sword represents the military power of French kings.The painting detail shows Charlemagne’s golden scepter – the symbol of the executive power.Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Napoleon on his Imperial Throne, 1806, detail of the Hand of Justice ( in white).Anthony van Dyck, Henrietta Maria of France.Marie-Antoinette, oil on canvas, 92.7 × 73.1 cm (36 1/2 × 28 3/4 in.), after 1783, unknown artist, at the Smithsonian National GalleryJacques-Louis David, madame Recamier, 1800, the LouvreSargent, Mrs. Joshua Montgomery Sears, a closeup of white gown at The museum of fine arts, Houston, 1899, Canvas or panel: 58 1/8 × 38 1/8 in. Sargent, Mrs. Joshua Montgomery Sears, The museum of fine arts, Houston, 1899, Canvas or panel: 58 1/8 × 38 1/8 in. John White Alexander, Repose, oil painting, 1895, American, the Met, New York | Similar to Sargent and Chase, Alexander loved to capture wealthy women in gowns at rest. This beautiful white dress stretches from left to right forming a diagonal, which is one of the ways to create a dynamic composition.
White is Heaven.
The Cathedral of Salerno inside. Italy.The Cathedral of Salerno inside, Italy. The Cathedral of Salerno was built between 1080 and 1085 on the ruins of a Roman temple.Ivan the Great Bell Tower at the Kremlin, image by Veronica Winters. | We can enjoy seeing the white stone cathedrals bathing in the warm sunlight. The Kremlin was built between the 14th and 17th centuries. The first white-stone walls and towers were built in 1367-68. The existing walls and towers were built by Italian masters from 1485 to 1495.Wat Rong Khun – the White Temple in Thailand. Photos c Veronica Winters | This looks like heaven on earth. Famous contemporary Thai artist, Ajarn Chalermchai wanted to build a temple that’s different from other wats. Normally, Thai temples are golden and the artist wanted to emphasize the Buddha’s purity who achieved Nirvana. Ajarn considered gold having a negative connotation about human behavior like lust. He put myriads of small mirrors into the white sculptures that beautifully reflect the light of the temple. These mirrors are the symbol of Buddha’s wisdom that shines throughout the universe according to the artist. He amassed a team of artists to build this beautiful site that represents heaven on earth. Wat Rong Khun is expanding as new elements are added to the wat. The admission is free for people to enjoy the garden feeling peace and joy. Isn’t it wonderful?The Alhambra was built between 1238 and 1358, mainly during the reigns of Ibn al-Aḥmar and his successors. Located in Granada, Spain, the Alhambra is one of the world’s finest examples of Islamic architecture that served as inspiration for many artists including Escher. This elaborate geometric design shows heavenly colors of white and blue. Image by Veronica Winters
White in mythology:
White crane, a closeup of a Japanese temple decoration. Photo: V.Winters | In Japanese culture, the white crane, or tsuru, is a national treasure and symbol of good fortune, longevity, and peace. It is also associated with loyalty, wisdom, fidelity, and beauty. The crane is depicted in art, literature, and mythology, and is said to live for 1,000 years. It is also associated with the Shinto god of happiness, and it is said that the god will come to a person who folds 1,000 cranes. Recently, the crane has become a symbol of peace, hope, and healing.Look at these beautiful patterns of gold, blue and white! We can see the white dragon in the center of the decoration. Two white cranes create symmetry in this elaborate decoration seen in Japan.
In Japanese culture, dragons are guardians of the Buddhist temples and their meaning varies depending on their color. The white dragon, or Hakuryuu, is a water god that controls rainfall and water. White dragons are also associated with great wealth and blessings in marriage.
The white dragon decoration, Japan.
White as a force in duality of nature:
Yin and Yang is a core concept in the Chinese philosophy that describes two opposing yet interconnected and complementary forces that are believed to underlie all of reality. They represent intertwined aspects of a whole in a dynamic balance within the universe. Famous symbol of yin and yang is the taijitu, a circle divided into two halves, each containing a swirl of the opposite color. The swirl within each half represents the seed of the other force, signifying their interdependence. In art, it often means balance, where white can’t exist without black, just like the sun doesn’t exist without the moon.
Among Neolithic jades of ancient China are bracelets (huan), penannular rings (chüeh), half-rings (huang), a flat disc with a hole in the centre (pi) and a ring or short tube squared on the outside (tsung). In later historic times these shapes acquired a ritual or ceremonial function, the pi and tsung, for example, symbolizing respectively heaven and earth.
(From the book: the arts of China, 3d edition, Michael Sullivan)
White often represents all the light in the world, opposing the black of the darkness.
Viktor Vasnezov, Sirin and Alkonost. The song of happiness and sadness, 1896, The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
In this oil painting, “Sirin and Alkonost,” also referred to as “The Birds of Joy and Sorrow,” depicts two beautiful, half-bird, half-woman creatures from Slavic mythology. Sirin, on the right, is typically associated with joy and enchantment, while Alkonost, on the left, brings sorrow and mourning. Their contrasting melodies intertwine, creating a complex and evocative harmony that reflects the duality of human experience. The painting itself is a masterpiece of the Russian Romanticism expressed in symbolism that invites contemplation of life’s emotional range.
A close up of hands and lace in oil painting, Metz, France. Photo: Veronica WintersHolbein, The Ambassadors, an oil painting’s closeup of fur. London
The calming power of white:
The calming effect of white is obvious in snowy landscapes, white clouds or cashmere sweater that bring us feelings of peace. Tranquil nature relaxes our mind. Soft, white fabric evokes serenity. And white swans and snowflakes seem magical floating in water.
Snowy Gorge, Utagawa Hiroshige, Japanese, Edo period (1615–1868), the Met
White can carry a special meaning in objects we often see. For instance, symbolic of new life, a white egg represents birth. Moreover, we can read the Chinese ancient legend about the origins of the world.
“Once upon a time, the universe was an enormous egg. One day the egg split open; its upper half became the sky, its lower half the earth, and from it emerged P’an Ku, primordial man. Every day he grew ten feet taller, the sky ten feet higher, the earth ten feet thicker. After eighteen thousand years P’an Ku died. His head split and became the sun and moon, while his blood filled the rivers and seas. His hair became the forests and meadows, his perspiration the rain, his breath the wind, his voice the thunder-and his fleas – our ancestors.” This legend expresses a Chinese philosophy, that man is not the culminating achievement of the creation, but a relatively insignificant part in the scheme of things; an afterthought. By comparison with the beauty and splendor of the world itself, the mountains and valleys, the clouds and water- falls, the trees and flowers, which are the visible manifestations of the workings of the Tao, he counts for very little.
(From the book: the arts of China, 3d edition, Michael Sullivan)
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/68969 Rank Badge with Leopard, Wave and Sun Motifs Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911), late 18th century, China, silk, metallic thread, 10 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. (27.31 x 28.57 cm), Textiles-Embroidered, Credit Line: Bequest of William Christian Paul, 1929Caspar David Friedrich, the polar sea or the sea of ice,1823–1824, oil on canvas, 96.7 cm × 126.9 cm (38 in × 49.9 in). This is one of my favorite Romanticism artists who painted the power of Nature to show its spiritual dominance over men.
White hue can also be a symbol of cleanliness. Healthcare facilities have white rooms, corridors, and doctors’ coats.
Contemporary architecture loves the color white. Both interior and exterior spaces have white paint and decorum seen across Florida’s new construction to amplify the light in the region.
White can also represent neutrality or fairness, negotiation or surrender – the white flag of surrender.
John Trumbull, The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, oil on canvas, 1826,21 × 30 5/8 × 3/4 in. image from the Yale University Art Gallery. It can also be seen in a 12′ x 18′ size at the US Capitol Rotunda. This painting illustrates the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, which ended the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War. https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/buildings-grounds/capitol-building/rotundaJacques-Louis David, the death of Marat, 1793–1793, in the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. This neoclassical painting has a very careful, classical design both in color and lines. Marat was a revolutionary in France and a friend of the artist. David was also a radical thinker and revolutionary who was once an official court painter to Napoleon but ended up in prosecution and escape from France to Belgium closer to the end of his life. Marat’s skin condition made him take long baths to soothe the pain where he got assassinated. This painting represents the ideals of neoclassical art and politics- simplicity, heroism, idealization, classicism, neutrality and stoicism. Color white helps communicate these virtues.
In modern art, white can symbolize a fresh start, an open canvas, or a space for interpretation. White is neutral, blank canvas. Artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Agnes Martin explored this potential in their monochromatic white paintings. Rauschenberg first painted his white canvases in 1951 in six variations, one to seven panels. Martin spent her 40-year career exploring the perception of stillness.
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), the white skull, Chicago Art Institute. O’Keeffe often painted the bleached white bones and skulls of the animals in New Mexico. She associated the skulls with strength of an American spirit.
White means innocence.
William Sergeant Kendall, art interlude, 1907, oil on canvas, American Art Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.Rembrandt van Rijn, Lucretia, oil on canvas,(47 1/4 x 39 3/4 in.), 1664, closeup of fabric and pearls. National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian, Washington, DC. Rembrandt depicts the suicide of Lucretia happening in Rome in the 6th century BC. She signifies virtue, loyalty and honor wearing white and pearls. You can read the full story here: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.83.htmlPsyche Abandoned by Pietro Tenerani, Pitti palace, Rome, Italy. Image by Veronica WintersPaul Delaroche, the execution of Lady Jane Grey, National Gallery London. The only person dressed in white – Jane Grey symbolizes innocence.Paul Delaroche, the execution of Lady Jane Grey, National Gallery London, Photo by Veronica WintersSir Joshua Reynolds The Ladies Waldegrave 1780, closeup, Scottish National Gallery. The dresses in Joshua Reynolds’ “The Ladies Waldegrave” are a striking feature of the painting. All three sisters are clad in garments of a singular color: white. The material is most likely muslin, a popular choice for fashionable gowns in the late 18th century. White evokes purity, innocence, and a sense of classical elegance and timeless quality Reynolds appreciated in ancient art.Canova, Cupid and Psyche, marble sculpture, 1793, Louvre. Photo: Veronica WintersEdgar Degas, The Dance Class, oil painting, 1874, the Met, NY | Degas created a series of paintings devoted to the theme of dance. He captured white ballerinas in rehearsals sketching in pastels and painting in oil.Gerome, Pygmalion and Galatea,1890, oil on canvas, 35 x 27 in. (88.9 x 68.6 cm), the Met. “Between 1890 and 1892, Gérôme made both painted and sculpted variations on the theme of Pygmalion and Galatea, the tale recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. All depict the moment when the sculpture of Galatea was brought to life by the goddess Venus, in fulfillment of Pygmalion’s wish for a wife as beautiful as the sculpture he created. This is one of three known versions in oil that are closely related to a polychrome marble sculpture, also fashioned by Gérôme (Hearst Castle, San Simeon, Calif.). In each of the paintings, the sculpture appears at a different angle, as though it were being viewed in the round.” The MetFrancesco Hayez Suzanna at her Bath, National Art Gallery of Scotland. A classical painting in many ways, the white fabric forms a circle around the nude communicating innocence of youth.
White as the representation of timelessness & memory
The marble sculpture at the CA’ d’ ORO Palace in Venice, Italy.Michelangelo’s tomb, detail, ItalyI love how lifelike this sculpture looks. It shows a pope blessing the crowd and wearing his crown. The light hit it so beautifully. It’s in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Rome, Italy.
Negative white
Depending on our view of the world, specific events or cultural differences we can see the color white as cold, empty and artificially sterile. This kind of emotionless, stark white can trigger feelings of isolation, and emptiness. Moreover, white can be associated with mourning and death in some countries.
White ghosts scare us, representing the supernatural and death.
William Blake, The Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul, c. 1800, pen &ink, watercolor, National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian, Washington DC
White can also represent death. White shroud symbolizes death, mourning, and loss.
Vernet, Horace. Angel of death, 1789-1863, the HermitageHieronymus Bosch, Death and the Miser, c. 1485/1490, oil on panel (other panels lost), 93 × 31 cm (36 5/8 × 12 3/16 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington DCHieronymus Bosch Death and the Miser, c. 1485/1490, oil on panel (other panels lost), 93 × 31 cm (36 5/8 × 12 3/16 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. “In this panel Bosch shows us the last moments in the life of a miser, just before his eternal fate is decided. A little monster peeping out from under the bed–curtains tempts the miser with a bag of gold, while an angel kneeling at the right encourages him to acknowledge the crucifix in the window. Death, holding an arrow, enters at the left. Oppositions of good and evil occur throughout the painting. A lantern containing the fire of Hell, carried by the demon atop the bed canopy, balances the cross which emits a single ray of divine light. The figure in the middle ground, perhaps representing the miser earlier in his life, is shown as hypocritical; with one hand he puts coins into the strongbox where they are collected by a rat–faced demon, and with the other he fingers a rosary, attempting to serve God and Mammon at the same time. A demon emerging from underneath the chest holds up a paper sealed with red wax — perhaps a letter of indulgence or a document that refers to the miser’s mercenary activities. This type of deathbed scene derives from an early printed book, the Ars Moriendi or “Art of Dying,” which enjoyed great popularity in the second half of the fifteenth century. The panel may have been the left wing of an altarpiece; the other panels — now missing — would have clarified the meaning of some aspects of the scene, such as the discarded and broken armor and weapons in the foreground.” Taken from the gallery’s page https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.41645.html
Empty white rooms can feel lonely and even scary.
Blindfolded figures often represent ignorance, inability to see, and vulnerability, but the blindfolded Lady Justice has a different meaning. The blindfold represents that justice is unbiased and should not be influenced by a person’s appearance or other factors.
Justice, from the Cardinal Virtues, Nicolaes de Bruyn Netherlandish, Publisher Frederick de Wit Dutch 1648–56, the Met, New York. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/423841
Whitewashing is a term denoting the covering up of unpleasant truth, describing censorship.
art museum, Metz, France
As you can see the color white carries several meanings and rich symbolism in art history and our life. What do you think of white?
PS If you see a mistake in this article, please know it’s not intentional. Reach out with the suggested correction to nika@veronicasart.com
The Color White in Contemporary Art
Ann-Marie Kornachuk, oil painting, copyright of the artistG Mortenson, Homework, copyright of the artistLorenzo Quinn, Hands, sculpture, Venice. Photo by Veronica Winters, 2017Lorenzo Quinn, Hands, sculpture, Venice, Italy. Photo by Veronica Winters, 2017Jorge Jiménez Deredia, capullo, marble sculpture-contessa gallery-art wynwood 2023Filippo Tincolini, Spacesman seat, Marble, exhibited in Miami Art Context 2023Michael Buthe, white painting at Tate Modern, 1969, London. I snapped a picture of this painting in 2019. A carefully constructed composition with white stretcher bars, Buthe blurs the line between the canvas and its support, emphasizing the artwork’s physical construction.Freedom, 22x30inches, colored pencil drawing by Veronica Winters
Lisa Orr is a professional potter and has been a student of ceramics for more than 40 years. After completing her MFA in 1992 at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, she received a Fulbright and an MAAA/NEA grant to continue her studies. Her work is shown in numerous public and private collections including the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and the permanent collection of WOCEF in Korea. A full-time studio potter, she also teaches, lectures, and shows nationally and internationally.
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What kind of bricks do you use for the base? Can you get them from Home Depot?
I would not get them from Home Depot because they are a little bit more expensive. Here is a list. It says here 67 fire brick. 12 half brick. So somewhere around 80 hard brick. You really need hard brick in the burn tunnel because the sticks are kind of landing on there. And also, it does get really hot in there. It will melt house brick.
How long does it take for the average person to build a kiln?
We built one yesterday with two beginners and instructions including cutting the special Swiss cheese shelf with angle grinder and drilling the holes, in around two hours. I’ve built one in thirty minutes.
How do you monitor the temperature inside the kiln?
I use a pyrometer, just a cheap one from Amazon and that I use to gauge the rise of temperature of the kiln. And also cones. I use cones. Old school.
Does wood quality matter?
Not at all. Pine is probably the best. Oak burns slower and makes more ash and so we don’t like to use it as much. So whatever kind of wood you can get is good. I get the cut offs from a casket company and the main thing is they need to be thin. It needs to be small diameter wood. Anything smaller than your wrist.
Is this something one could do within the city limits?
It’s completely smokeless except right in the beginning and if you choose to reduce. So there is no visible flame or fire coming out of this thing at all.
So within city limits it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Not at all. You could put it in the driveway. If you don’t mind assembling the bricks and stuff like that you can put it in a driveway, fire it and then move all the bricks and kiln and stuff.
How much protection does it need from weather? Does it need significant protection?
I don’t know about significant. I would throw a tarp over it if I was leaving it out there because electric kilns can really absorb the water and get heavy. I would say it’s great if you can have a shed and if not you just throw a tarp on it when you are not using it.
Why did you open source this project? Why not monetize it somehow?
I guess I feel like the permaculture people open source their rocket mass heaters for the most part. I mean I have paid for workshops and I have paid for a book someone wrote about it and that’s really paying someone for their labor and their hosting. But the plans are available at the wood fired Rocket Kiln Facebook page. They are on my website under the projects. And we just had a live workshop so if you want to watch somebody build it, we built one on video and you can watch that workshop.
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