Portrait Painting for Sale
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Lena Bera-Pancini
Painting - 90 x 90 x 90 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 35.4 inch
£1,707
No title - Three of six
Susanne Butcher
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£899
Alessandro Magno nº3
Davide Ricchetti
Painting - 42 x 28.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 16.5 x 11.2 x 0.2 inch
£809
Black and Bold 1
Loje Oluwaseun
Painting - 74.9 x 49.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 29.5 x 19.5 x 1 inch
£1,223
Distance
Alexandre Monteiro (Hopare)
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
£8,087
Les Dieux aussi ont parfois du chagrin
Julie Ruelle
Painting - 116 x 89 x 3 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 1.2 inch
£3,774
Marianne
Christophe Létua aka Tophe
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
£1,258
Pot Carrier with Pink Shawl
Nicolle Menegaldo
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£1,950
Casa Désirs Divins
Chrystèle Saint-Amaux
Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
£222
Les yeux verts
Christiane Bernais
Painting - 60 x 60 x 1.7 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.7 inch
£809
Gaze of Love
Agwunwa Theophilus
Painting - 137.2 x 109.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 54 x 43 x 1 inch
£2,952
La poupée celestial
Jaume Queralt
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£10,244
L'artiste et son marchand
Zafi
Painting - 150 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 59.1 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
£10,783
How I failed to see you
Sava Harris
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,424
Lennon N°90 - XXL
Parscha Mirghawameddin
Painting - 135 x 105 x 0.1 cm Painting - 53.1 x 41.3 x 0 inch
£1,617
Veracruz Dancer
Nicolas Sanchez
Painting - 76.2 x 101.6 x 3.8 cm Painting - 30 x 40 x 1.5 inch
£12,650
This Bird is Not a Starling
Rachel Isadora
Painting - 25.4 x 43.2 x 5.1 cm Painting - 10 x 17 x 2 inch
£801
Juan San Miguel Allende
Joe Lasker
Painting - 27.9 x 16.5 x 5.1 cm Painting - 11 x 6.5 x 2 inch
£1,644
Worship 3
Shijirbaatar Jambalsuren
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
£3,410
Les Mannequins (The Supermodels) 1
Alawaye Tope
Painting - 81.3 x 81.3 x 2.5 cm Painting - 32 x 32 x 1 inch
£1,560
MonaLisa
Miguel Ángel Belinchón Bujes Belin
Painting - 60.5 x 40.5 x 2 cm Painting - 23.8 x 15.9 x 0.8 inch
£3,549
Reticulum with mask
Giorgio Lo Fermo
Painting - 70 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
£1,617
L’enfant de la Liane
Clémence Dupuch
Painting - 115 x 90 x 3 cm Painting - 45.3 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
£1,617
La niña de la ventana
Maritza Bernal
Painting - 61 x 76 x 2 cm Painting - 24 x 29.9 x 0.8 inch
£1,617
Les mots bleus sont des fenêtres
Mia
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 1 inch
£5,841
The Birth of Venus
Jeremy Bianco
Painting - 100 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
£3,415
Anne-Marie with red ribbon in hair
Stephen Nadja
Painting - 59.4 x 42 x 3 cm Painting - 23.4 x 16.5 x 1.2 inch
£2,336
En attendant le jour
Xavier Jallais
Painting - 55 x 46 x 5 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 2 inch
£1,303
Jeune Fille Au Chapeau
André Averianov
Painting - 50 x 60 x 3.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 1.4 inch
£2,246
Autoportrait et le bois
Carmen Selma
Painting - 92 x 73 x 2 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.7 x 0.8 inch
£2,876
Hatted (detras de tu mirada)
Marcelo Novo
Painting - 61 x 61 x 3.8 cm Painting - 24 x 24 x 1.5 inch
£1,391
Woman and flower. Gazania
Ljubow Jung
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
£1,110
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
£1,012
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
£1,012
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
£1,437
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.