Portrait Painting for Sale
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Portrait with Birds
Guy Ghazanchyan
Painting - 65 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,106
Everything changed in absolute silence
Ramonn Vieitez
Painting - 59.9 x 59.9 x 5.1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 2 inch
$2,500
Sa propre dualité révèle son unité
Marie-Josée Roy
Painting - 61 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 48 x 1 inch
$4,000
Notable à moustache
Jules Matthey
Painting - 81 x 65.5 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.8 x 0.8 inch
$3,196
Autoportrait - série Infra_blanc
Patrice Palacio
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$16,597
High Tops, acrylic painting
Kathleen Ney
Painting - 60.3 x 45.1 x 0.3 cm Painting - 23.75 x 17.75 x 0.1 inch
$1,898
It's Not Me, You’re Pathetic
Evelyn Morgan
Painting - 90 x 75 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 29.5 x 1.2 inch
$1,944
Voyages voyages...
Albena Vatcheva
Painting - 30 x 25 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0.8 inch
$1,106 $1,051
Sunset Whispers
Adán López Alemán
Painting - 150 x 100 x 1 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$7,635
Could you be loved
MorningCamille
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$553 $498
Palimpseste
Marc Colonna d'Istria
Painting - 92 x 92 x 10 cm Painting - 36.2 x 36.2 x 3.9 inch
$3,873
Family IV an African portrait
Angu Walters
Painting - 130 x 100 x 0.1 cm Painting - 51.2 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$3,000
Shaman Woman
Heikki Länkinen
Painting - 41.5 x 29.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 16.3 x 11.6 x 0.2 inch
$2,047
Entre elles - série Silhouette de femmes
Francine Cordier
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,449
The future is a big kiss
Isabelle Scheltjens
Painting - 138 x 103 x 4.5 cm Painting - 54.3 x 40.6 x 1.8 inch
$19,363
Series: Portrait rendering #1
Keita Kushima
Painting - 90 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$4,758
La faiseuse de lumière
Jeanne Saint-Chéron
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
$3,098
Homme devant la fenêtre
Victor Ruzo
Painting - 85 x 54.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 33.5 x 21.5 x 0.2 inch
$2,249
Portrait d'un notable
J.F. Meyer
Painting - 58 x 47.5 x 2 cm Painting - 22.8 x 18.7 x 0.8 inch
$2,226
Siento el calor de tus manos
Florencia Durán
Painting - 157 x 100 cm Painting - 61.8 x 39.4 inch
$1,770
Looking Far Away
Gabriela Sroga
Painting - 105 x 105 x 0.5 cm Painting - 41.3 x 41.3 x 0.2 inch
$4,205
Gondolier in Venice
Amy Benedict
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.4 inch
$4,205
Market Man & Market Woman
Laurent Messager
Painting - 106 x 160 x 2 cm Painting - 41.7 x 63 x 0.8 inch
$3,286
Children dreams flight
Ivan Russev
Painting - 44 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 17.3 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,704
Essai sur toile blanche
Jean-Louis Mendrisse
Painting - 33 x 41 x 3 cm Painting - 13 x 16.1 x 1.2 inch
$1,992
Baiser de Fragonard
Patricia Molinaro
Painting - 60 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,881
Self portrait with between clock and bed
Gerard Boersma
Painting - 50.8 x 40.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 20 x 16 x 1 inch
$1,970
Awokose (The Role Model)
Oladire Araireoluwa
Painting - 76.2 x 66 x 2.5 cm Painting - 30 x 26 x 1 inch
$1,200
Matrioshkas Nikki de saint Phalle
Fridouch'ka
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$166
Butterflies in my head
Dasha S. Kandinsky
Painting - 120 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$8,299
Platillos volador
Federico Calandria
Painting - 31 x 21 x 0.1 cm Painting - 12.2 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$221
Botticelli in the Conditions of State Propaganda
Gosha Ostretsov
Painting - 139.7 x 119.4 cm Painting - 55 x 47 inch
$7,500
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
Serie Terra Retrato en fondo beige
Enrique Pichardo
Painting - 70 x 70 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
$956
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
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
$1,095
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,769 $1,593
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.