Portrait Painting for Sale
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4 Collectors at a Parisian Gallery Opening with Champagne
Christian Jodin
Painting - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$676
Citoyen du monde
Enfant Précoce / Francis Essoua Kalu
Painting - 200 x 230 x 3 cm Painting - 78.7 x 90.6 x 1.2 inch
$23,076
David Bowie - série Cadres Louis Vuitton
Nathalie Zelman
Painting - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$568
Deux amies
Christiane Simon-Roques
Painting - 100 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,478
Solace in Dreams
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 65 x 48 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 18.9 x 0.8 inch
$1,200 $1,020
Motherhood's Grace
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 65 x 48 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 18.9 x 0.8 inch
$1,200 $1,020
Portrait with Bird #2
Guy Ghazanchyan
Painting - 81 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,250
Much Ado about Something (Whimsical Performance)
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$557
Femme au fume-cigarette
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 19 x 19 x 1.5 cm Painting - 7.5 x 7.5 x 0.6 inch
$318
La Joie de Vivre
Agathe Lemaire Thalazac
Painting - 130 x 150 x 2 cm Painting - 51.2 x 59.1 x 0.8 inch
$18,188
Jack Le Magnifique
Agathe Lemaire Thalazac
Painting - 130 x 160 x 2 cm Painting - 51.2 x 63 x 0.8 inch
$18,188
Marielle
Agathe Lemaire Thalazac
Painting - 150 x 150 x 2 cm Painting - 59.1 x 59.1 x 0.8 inch
$18,188
Dormeur du Val
Agathe Lemaire Thalazac
Painting - 200 x 300 x 3 cm Painting - 78.7 x 118.1 x 1.2 inch
$30,693
Furioso (Christophe Rousset)
Agathe Lemaire Thalazac
Painting - 150 x 150 x 2 cm Painting - 59.1 x 59.1 x 0.8 inch
$18,188
Space abstraction-7
Anand Manchiraju
Painting - 66 x 109.2 x 0.3 cm Painting - 26 x 43 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Christian Bérard
Agathe Lemaire Thalazac
Painting - 200 x 400 x 3 cm Painting - 78.7 x 157.5 x 1.2 inch
$36,945
Lucie au piano
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 30 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
$432
Self-portrait
Gergana Balabanova
Painting - 120 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,535
Self-portrait III
Gergana Balabanova
Painting - 120 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,535
Better mercutio 8
Robert Langley
Painting - 198.1 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 78 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$800
Sans titre
Bengt Lindström
Painting - 64.5 x 54.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 25.4 x 21.5 x 0.2 inch
$13,073
Sans titre
Bengt Lindström
Painting - 54.4 x 64.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 21.4 x 25.4 x 0.2 inch
$13,073
Neon Flower Girls
Charlotte Hannah Crawford
Painting - 35 x 55 x 7 cm Painting - 13.8 x 21.7 x 2.8 inch
$1,501
Squiggle Man
Charlotte Hannah Crawford
Painting - 49 x 49 x 5 cm Painting - 19.3 x 19.3 x 2 inch
$1,421
Une femme dans la ville, Mona Lisa, portrait pour une humanité
Alkaplan
Painting - 92 x 73 x 3 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.7 x 1.2 inch
$6,821
Arlequine aux yeux bleus
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 30 x 24 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$398
Aymeric Bergadat du Cadet
Sorrel Mocchia di Coggiola
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
$5,229
Territorial Pissing
Francisco Montoya Cázarez
Painting - 31.5 x 24.5 x 0.1 cm Painting - 12.4 x 9.6 x 0 inch
$580
Chairman Mao’s Long Journey, The Worker
Erró
Painting - 103 x 84 x 2 cm Painting - 40.6 x 33.1 x 0.8 inch
$8,526
Autorretrato. Picasso.
José Luis Pagador Ponce
Painting - 81 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$4,683
Inspiración
José Luis Pagador Ponce
Painting - 100 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
$5,570
La huella del tiempo
José Luis Pagador Ponce
Painting - 70 x 55 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 21.7 x 0.8 inch
$2,501
Discover the styles & movements
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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.
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.
A portrait can be created in various different art styles and forms, including sculpture, painting and drawing.
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.