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.
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Allégorie sur Liszt lors de son séjour à Genève
Aimé Moret
Painting - 50 x 60 x 0.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
€1,159
Jean Michel Basquiat Portrait
Cacerolo .
Painting - 49.8 x 45 x 0.3 cm Painting - 19.6 x 17.7 x 0.1 inch
€1,820
Walk a Mile In My Shoes!
Vlado Vesselinov
Painting - 61 x 45.7 x 2 cm Painting - 24 x 18 x 0.8 inch
€2,002
In The Midst of Darkness, Let Your Flame Keep Burning
Miiickey Madu
Painting - 61 x 61 x 3 cm Painting - 24 x 24 x 1.2 inch
€4,550
Intimate Offerings
Genevieve Cohn
Painting - 60.96 x 45.72 x 2.54 cm Painting - 24 x 18 x 1 inch
€2,275
Duality
Alexandre de Poplavsky
Painting - 150 x 100 x 3.5 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
€28,000
Au pays du soleil levant
Jeannette Guichard-Bunel
Painting - 41 x 33 x 2 cm Painting - 16.1 x 13 x 0.8 inch
€2,200
Sunset Paradise
Jessica Renault jrbrush
Painting - 61 x 45.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 17.9 x 1 inch
€1,500
Igbo Amaka (Igbo is Beautiful)
Omoyemi Ogedengbe
Painting - 106.7 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 42 x 36 x 1 inch
€3,459
We All have the Hunger
Kalina Hristova
Painting - 70 x 65 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 25.6 x 0.4 inch
€1,855
Les Racine de l’Amour
Leticia de Prado
Painting - 150 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
€8,000
Winter White in Midtown Manhattan
Chin H Shin
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1.5 inch
€4,551
War and Peace
Sebastian Picker
Painting - 100 x 240 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 94.5 x 0.4 inch
€17,000
The Theatre Stage
Antonio Feltrinelli
Painting - 100 x 150 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 59.1 x 0.8 inch
€14,500
The secret garden of Donna Esmeralda
Magda Dimoudi
Painting - 45 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 17.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
€1,710
Generation Selfie 8 #Megan
Danielle Dumestre dit kakou
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,460
Plages du Brésil - Paysage marin abstrait et sculpture homme
Rosana Faustino
Painting - 15 x 15 x 0.3 cm Painting - 5.9 x 5.9 x 0.1 inch
€290
Portrait d'homme à la moustache
Georges Darel
Painting - 41.5 x 33.5 x 2 cm Painting - 16.3 x 13.2 x 0.8 inch
€1,092
Festival d'Avignon
Maurice Douard
Painting - 90 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
€1,600
Fergusson
Alexandre Monteiro (Hopare)
Painting - 160 x 140 x 2 cm Painting - 63 x 55.1 x 0.8 inch
€37,000
Qu'est-ce que vous voulez dire?
Sylvain Coulombe
Painting - 121.9 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1.5 inch
€5,673
The Reluctance of September Leaves
Patricia Ariel
Painting - 61 x 48.3 x 0.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19 x 0.2 inch
€1,115
Revelation in Abstraction
Nytia Jenkins
Painting - 27.94 x 35.56 x 2 cm Painting - 11 x 14 x 0.8 inch
€2,400
Eyes on me custom skate deck skateboard
Andrew Wallas
Painting - 22 x 85 x 1 cm Painting - 8.7 x 33.5 x 0.4 inch
€850
Effeullier la marguerite
Alex Laben
Painting - 50 x 50 x 0.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.2 inch
€1,440
Les nuits blanches
Fabienne Comte
Painting - 140 x 110 x 2 cm Painting - 55.1 x 43.3 x 0.8 inch
€5,600
We Don't Know How Water Is Blue #2
Tran Trong Vu
Painting - 254 x 101.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 100 x 40 x 1 inch
€2,093
Another man's wife
Evans Torngmortey
Painting - 183 x 122 x 2 cm Painting - 72 x 48 x 0.8 inch
€3,500
Bats toi, ne baisse pas les bras et tu seras libre N°2
Jacob Diboum
Painting - 30 x 24 x 1.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.6 inch
€330
Dancer in Motion 4
Anthony Lister
Painting - 26 x 60 x 1.5 cm Painting - 10.2 x 23.6 x 0.6 inch
€3,900
The Lady with the Necklace
Elisabeth Constantin
Painting - 34 x 34 x 4 cm Painting - 13.4 x 13.4 x 1.6 inch
€1,200
Portrait d'une jeune femme assise sur un banc
Marcel-René Chassard
Painting - 57.5 x 48 x 2 cm Painting - 22.6 x 18.9 x 0.8 inch
€1,226
Un ange passe II
Clémentine Verlaine
Painting - 70 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
€2,800
Marianne
Christophe Létua aka Tophe
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
€1,400
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
L'esprit Déchaîné (hand-painted)
tizlu
Painting - 50 x 35 x 2.2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 13.8 x 0.9 inch
€1,480
Top Elite Faschions
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 61 x 46 x 0.2 cm Print - 24 x 18.1 x 0.1 inch
€550
Degas Danseur de Ballet
Martín Duque
Sculpture - 44 x 16 x 20 cm Sculpture - 17.3 x 6.3 x 7.9 inch
€980
Maiko in Springtime Kyoto
Takashi Murakami
Print - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Print - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€2,429
Love and Flowers - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Africa, Women
Taiwo Odejinmi
Painting - 91.4 x 61 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 24 x 1 inch
€2,230
Need help with Portrait Painting for Sale ?
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.