Portrait Painting for Sale
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Ballet dancer at rest - Ballerina painting + baroque frame
Domenico Ronca
Painting - 24 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
$335
Pachamama Glósóli 5 - oil impressionnist - French School - (XXL)
Bazévian Delacapucinière
Painting - 80 x 120 x 3.7 cm Painting - 31.5 x 47.2 x 1.5 inch
$6,698
Pachamama Glósóli 08 - oil impressionnist - French School - (XXL)
Bazévian Delacapucinière
Painting - 89 x 116 x 3 cm Painting - 35 x 45.7 x 1.2 inch
$6,698
Låt mig inte vänta
Mathias Szabo
Painting - 42 x 29.7 x 0.09 cm Painting - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$356
Portrait of Basquiat
Emmanuel Ojebola
Painting - 71.1 x 71.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 28 x 28 x 1 inch
$3,000
Portrait de femmes exotiques
Brito Esteves
Painting - 52 x 102 x 4 cm Painting - 20.5 x 40.2 x 1.6 inch
$2,009
Quiet Reflections
Ruslana Levandovska
Painting - 76.2 x 61 x 1.9 cm Painting - 30 x 24 x 0.75 inch
$12,090
La liberté de plaire guidant le peuple
Marie Rauzy
Painting - 130 x 200 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 78.7 x 1.2 inch
$20,651
Une envie de Picasso A desire of Picasso
Marie Rauzy
Painting - 100 x 81 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 1.2 inch
$7,702
The Eclectic
Nataliya Bagatskaya
Painting - 130 x 85 x 2.3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 33.5 x 0.9 inch
$2,121
The Norwegian Madonna
Nadezda Stupina
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$5,459
Flat Lies (Terra)
Gianluca Fascetto
Painting - 90 x 70 x 1 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,228 $1,105
Arthurian Girl
Gianluca Fascetto
Painting - 40 x 29 x 1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.4 x 0.4 inch
$804 $723
Plage du Crouton/3 (1)
Jean-Jacques Venturini
Painting - 81 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$1,674
What Nobody Wants to Know
Sebastian Picker
Painting - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$6,698
Cannes Film Festival
Guy Olivier
Painting - 137 x 182 x 3 cm Painting - 53.9 x 71.7 x 1.2 inch
$8,093
Teach us to love ourselves
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,800
You May Be Lucky
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
$3,200
Berehynia: Rebirth on the Meadow
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 30 x 60 x 1.8 cm Painting - 11.8 x 23.6 x 0.7 inch
$391
In chamomile-3
Vasyl Khodakivskyi
Painting - 80 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$4,577
Regard en chien
Aurélie Quentin
Painting - 130 x 130 x 0.1 cm Painting - 51.2 x 51.2 x 0 inch
$6,564
My Name Is Brigitte
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
$5,023
My Name Is Grace
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
$5,023
My Name Is Marylin
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
$5,023
Red devil manga
Silvio Porzionato
Painting - 120 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
$16,744
The ladies are waiting II
Dzovig Arnelian
Painting - 9.5 x 14 x 0.5 cm Painting - 3.7 x 5.5 x 0.2 inch
$480
Figura su ezechiele
Davide Ricchetti
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$4,688
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
A boy with a violin
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,005 $854
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,785
Her Softness
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,674 $1,021
Portrait #2. From the Portraits series
Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku
Painting - 30 x 20.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 8.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,200
L'envole I - préchauffage
Patricia Dubois
Painting - 93 x 70 x 3.5 cm Painting - 36.6 x 27.6 x 1.4 inch
$2,456
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
$1,340
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.