The White Painting
Serge purchases a completely white painting which horrifies his friend Marc as he cannot believe his so-called friend believes this to be art. The painting is a symbol of the subjective nature of art and its ability to be divisive to a degree that it creates barriers between people because of individual personal opinions and values connected to art. The artwork could also represent and reflect the nature of art, particularly in the modernist era, which breaks all boundaries and theories that pin it down in one place, to become something new and innovative.
Friendship
Marc and Serge's friendship is severely tested through the story as Serge's purchase astounds Marc. This is a symbol of a human being's ability to create friendships based on whether the other person has the same point of view as them or not.
Art Market
Serge's newly purchased painting has cost him 200,000 francs for an all-white painting with a few white lines upon it. This represents one specific aspect of the art market: it is driven speculation as dealers sell for profit as much as for genius.
Independence
Serge's purchase of the all-white painting to many seems quite alarming given how much he spent on it. The symbol is that art creates the opportunity for independence of thought in any buyer who chooses it. Thus art is not only about the artist and their technique, but also about collectors and the connection created between them and the piece.
Caught in Between
Yvan is friends with both Marc and Serge and finds himself appeasing each of his friends in order to play into their point of view about the purchase of the painting and what art is. Yvan is a symbol of the larger group of people that simply have no desire to get caught in the middle of a subjective opinion about art. To them, the reality of their lives is far more important than choosing a side to determine who is "right" about something that is non-consequential to their day-to-day reality.
Open-mindedness
To further add on Yvan's characterization, Marc represents the traditions that define art while Serge stands for the modernist perspective of what constitutes "good" art. Seeing these two extremes, Yvan represents the people who are open to evolution and development. Talking to Marc about Serge's white painting, he initially laughs it off as an absurd waste of money. However, seeing the work firsthand, he develops an appreciation for it. Yvan accepts the conventions that his friend Marc upholds, all while accepting that these conventions could also be broken to create something fresh of which a new, different, non-traditionalist audience would come to wholeheartedly appreciate. Hence, Yvan is the audience that Yasmina Reza aims to inculcate within the play's viewers.
