Timeless Black & White

In most cultures and religions colors are associated with symbols. Black is often representing the darkness, the unknown, the maleficent while white stands for peace, purity and enlightenment.

Black and white are in fact not colours, since the notion of colour is the property possessed by an object to produce different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light. White is pure light and black is the absence of light. However, light and dark play a major role in art and many artists have been exploring the black-and-white dichotomy and its symbolistic. The black-and-white opposition had a tremendous impact on the western culture if it is to mention just a few examples like Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (1875), Kazimir Malevich's Black Square (1924) or Picasso's love for monochrome in Guernica (1937).

This contrast is often used in art to create a dramatic effect, to reduce the visual language to essential elements and ultimately to force the viewer to pause and think.