Portrait Painting for Sale
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Blue hair don't care
Emmanuel Tissandier
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,777
Joker HAHAHA
Rodolph Planchais ROD
Painting - 156 x 128 x 20 cm Painting - 61.4 x 50.4 x 7.9 inch
£26,306
#32 - Voluptuousness 2 - XXL
Eric Lespinasse
Painting - 160 x 90 x 0.2 cm Painting - 63 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
£1,066
Yanig dans le jardin
Samuel Perche
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2.6 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 1 inch
£2,488
Study for reclining
Jonathan Chapline
Painting - 17.8 x 12.4 x 1.87 cm Painting - 7 x 4.9 x 0.7 inch
£13,684
Energy (from the cycle Flow)
Joanna Sokolowska
Painting - 100 x 80 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 inch
£1,689
Jeune Femme Au Bouquet
Jean-Gabriel Domergue
Painting - 65 x 54 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 inch
£17,774
Nude in the Grand Canyon
Balbyshev Oleksandr
Painting - 85.1 x 125 x 2.5 cm Painting - 33.5 x 49.2 x 1 inch
£3,566
I've made peace...with my body
Blair Treuer
Painting - 100 x 84 x 8 cm Painting - 39.4 x 33.1 x 3.1 inch
£10,673
Conjuring Hermaphrodite
Linet Andréa
Painting - 140 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 55.1 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£3,466
Homo motus ruby #18
Alexis "Bust" Stephens
Painting - 81 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£2,133
Young Woman Sleeping (Early 20th Century Modern Nude Portrait), Serge Henry Moreau
Serge Henry Moreau
Painting - 61 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 36 x 1 inch
£4,936
Transparence des ailes du papilon
KLA
Painting - 120 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£2,400
Saint Jérôme en méditation
Thomas Bambini
Painting - 114 x 79 x 3 cm Painting - 44.9 x 31.1 x 1.2 inch
£6,932
What’s Kept Inside
Maisha De la Cruz
Painting - 123 x 214 x 1 cm Painting - 48.4 x 84.3 x 0.4 inch
£7,816
The elegant life of Mr H Paris 1967
Key Hiraga
Painting - 65 x 54 x 0.5 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 x 0.2 inch
£31,105
Petra, le diptyque
Edith Simonnet
Painting - 240 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 94.5 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
£8,620
Mind Flesh
Sabine Danzé
Painting - 120 x 90 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 1.6 inch
Price upon request
Signs I
Ekene Stanley Emecheta
Painting - 75 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 29.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
Price upon request
556
Simon Berger
Painting - 100.3 x 100.3 x 10.2 cm Painting - 39.5 x 39.5 x 4 inch
Price upon request
Claudia
Sophie Westerlind
Painting - 110 x 85 x 4 cm Painting - 43.3 x 33.5 x 1.6 inch
Price upon request
Schisme #2
Erwann Tirilly
Painting - 84 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 33.1 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
Price upon request
Untitled
Aron Kroes
Painting - 120 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
Price upon request
Violet Face
Isshaq Ismail
Painting - 152 x 127 x 10 cm Painting - 59.8 x 50 x 3.9 inch
Price upon request
Juliette
Salvador Ginard
Painting - 139 x 128 x 3 cm Painting - 54.7 x 50.4 x 1.2 inch
Price upon request
Stripes double
Jean Marie Drouet
Painting - 81 x 116 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 45.7 x 1.2 inch
Price upon request
Le dos de ma sœur
Camille Brès
Painting - 40 x 32 x 3 cm Painting - 15.7 x 12.6 x 1.2 inch
Price upon request
The ballet friends
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,777 £1,333
A boy with a violin
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£800 £680
The beauty of dance XIII
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,333
Retrato Fondo Azul
Enrique Pichardo
Painting - 70 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£762
A girl who loves the sea II
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,333
Walking on the beach
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,600
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
£768
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
£1,421
The beauty of dance XII
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 49 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.3 x 0.8 inch
£1,511
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
£1,066
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
£995
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.