Portrait Painting for Sale
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Antidote from the Gods
Ademola Ajayi
Painting - 91.4 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,350
Observers
Nicholas Robertson
Painting - 51.1 x 40.9 x 0.5 cm Painting - 20.1 x 16.1 x 0.2 inch
$1,093
Förhållandet i en dröm
Mathias Szabo
Painting - 63 x 63 x 2 cm Painting - 24.8 x 24.8 x 0.8 inch
$629
Femme au turban jaune
E. Rosselli
Painting - 55.4 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.8 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$1,574
Rêver à la lune
Christine Desplanque
Painting - 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$886
Picasso 3
Giorgio A.F. Valentini
Painting - 100 x 100 x 7 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 2.8 inch
$1,683
Photo de famille 56
Maxime Frairot
Painting - 46 x 38 x 2 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 x 0.8 inch
$314 $283
Il lago di Castreccioni (1)
Vassilij Levi
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,683
Twenty Shades of Sunlight
Carlos Gamez de Francisco
Painting - 140 x 64 x 2 cm Painting - 55.1 x 25.2 x 0.8 inch
$8,526
Our fearless mothers, who bathed in the shadows
Massoud Hayoun
Painting - 61 x 91 x 5 cm Painting - 24 x 35.8 x 2 inch
$4,151
Cavalier avec un glaive sur canapé
Victorien Bazo
Painting - 90 x 70 x 5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 2 inch
$3,590
Tombstone for Doc (Neapolitan)
Jay Hanscom
Painting - 92 x 31 x 6 cm Painting - 36.2 x 12.2 x 2.4 inch
$1,015
Le vieux Korodouga 1
Amadou Opa Bathily
Painting - 118 x 130 x 5 cm Painting - 46.5 x 51.2 x 2 inch
$4,263
De guerre lasse
Sylvie Julkowski-Egard
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,683
Les improbables
Isabelle Peirone
Painting - 100 x 73 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.7 x 1 inch
$2,244
The mood of the night
Nadezda Stupina
Painting - 81 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,458
Keith Dog
Raphaël Federici (ParisSketchCulture)
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$4,709
Acqua “Free Float”
Gianluca Fascetto
Painting - 90 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,099
Sans titre - profil d'homme
Hashtag Jeff (D-Philippot)
Painting - 120 x 65 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 25.6 x 1.6 inch
$2,244
So little roads have been traveled, so many mistakes have been made
Mikhail Baranovskiy
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.6 inch
$1,571 $1,257
Silence of being
Mayra AleJandra Lifischtz
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,200
Memories of summer
Natalie Shiporina
Painting - 70 x 70 x 1.8 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.7 inch
$2,468
Gabrielle II
Christiane Simon-Roques
Painting - 100 x 70 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 2 inch
$1,571
My Peregrinations 4
Damola Ayegbayo
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,800
Insatiable Cravings
Afolayan Emmanuel
Painting - 91.4 x 127 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 50 x 1 inch
$2,650
Benicio del Toro
Jean-Michel Lourenço
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
$1,290 $1,161
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
The tree of life
Seyran Gasparyan
Painting - 50 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,200 $1,020
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,794
Her Softness
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,683 $1,027
L'envole I - préchauffage
Patricia Dubois
Painting - 93 x 70 x 3.5 cm Painting - 36.6 x 27.6 x 1.4 inch
$2,468
Mickey Mouse Soldier
Belart Collective
Painting - 120 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$2,233
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
$1,346
Inventoriage biométrique
Gopal Dagnogo
Fine Art Drawings - 220 x 220 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 86.6 x 86.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,111
Portrait Painting for Sale
Portraiture is one of the most important subjects in painting. The discipline has changed significantly over time and has a fascinating history.
In antiquity, portraits were exclusively reserved for gods and the most influential people in society. Paintings and statues representing the bodies of the deceased were erected to decorate tombs in Egypt. They weren't realistic but rather had a very standardized way of representing each part of the body.
In contrast to the Egyptians, painters and sculptors in Greece, who had a more in depth knowledge of the human anatomy, were more concerned about realism. Many portrait paintings from this period were done on vases and depicted gods and mythological scenes.
In the Middle Ages, most portraits paintings were commissioned and featuring the most important people of the time; they were painted into religious scenes to emphasize their piety and faith, along with their social status. Once these works of art had been painted, they were often donated to churches and monasteries.
The Renaissance marked a renewal for the arts and portrait painting was no exception. At the beginning of this period, artists were unconcerned about lifelike, realistic work. Sitters or the subjects represented were identifiable through the use of symbolic objects and the inclusion of their name.
Giotto revolutionized portraiture by imitating sculpture. He began to paint shadows, the subjects' expressions, effects of depth and began to use foreshortening. His knowledge soon began to spread.
Brunelleschi then introduced the idea of perspective in architecture, a concept which Masaccio adapted to painting. Italy became the center of portrait painting and the most important Italian families (including the Médici family) commissioned artwork by the best painters. Competition between these painters led them to innovate and led them to produce some of the greatest artworks in history. The most famous is undoubtedly the Mona Lisa by Leonardo de Vinci.
In Northern Europe during the 16th century, Flemish art was restricted by iconoclasm during the Reformation, a period during the depiction of religious figures was banned. Artists turned to courtly art which was particularly popular during the following centuries. A century earlier, Flemish art had marked a turning point with Jan Van Eyck, the inventor of oil painting (the preferred painting technique of Renaissance painters) and master of detailed realism, who influenced an entire generation of Flemish painters.
Over the following centuries, portrait painting continued to be an art form for the elite of society, but painters grew increasingly concerned about depicting realistic figures and communicating the sitter's inner world and emotions. The 20th century saw a growing trend: subjects were not painted to look beautiful (sometimes to their great dismay).
At the end of the 19th century, Impressionist painters became less reliant on sculpted models and sculpture's influence. They left their studios and painted portraits outside, “en plein air." They captured the light as they saw it and painted groups of people together rather than in in several stages.
Modern and contemporary art of the 20th century saw anything go when it came to portraits. Artists like Gustav Klimt, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin and Lucien Freud turned traditional techniques and codified rules on their heads and developed their own unique styles.
Discover portraits by Philippe Pasqua, Robert Combas, Guangyu Dai and Erró on Artsper.
What is meant by portrait painting?
A portrait painting is a painted artwork that depicts a person. A portrait painting usually depicts the upper body of a sitter, for example from the shoulders up.
What art style is a portrait?
A portrait can be created in various different art styles and forms, including sculpture, painting and drawing.
What makes a good portrait?
A portrait can be considered a good work of art for a variety of reasons, including its handling of light, tone and color, its likeness to the person it represents, or its expression of emotion.