Portrait Painting for Sale
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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
£16,441
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
£6,132
The Eclectic
Nataliya Bagatskaya
Painting - 130 x 85 x 2.3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 33.5 x 0.9 inch
£1,689
The Norwegian Madonna
Nadezda Stupina
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£4,346
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
£1,333
What Nobody Wants to Know
Sebastian Picker
Painting - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
£5,332
Cannes Film Festival
Guy Olivier
Painting - 137 x 182 x 3 cm Painting - 53.9 x 71.7 x 1.2 inch
£6,443
Teach us to love ourselves
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
£2,322
You May Be Lucky
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
£2,654
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
£311
In chamomile-3
Vasyl Khodakivskyi
Painting - 80 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£3,644
Regard en chien
Aurélie Quentin
Painting - 130 x 130 x 0.1 cm Painting - 51.2 x 51.2 x 0 inch
£5,226
My Name Is Brigitte
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
£3,999
My Name Is Grace
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
£3,999
My Name Is Marylin
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
£3,999
Red devil manga
Silvio Porzionato
Painting - 120 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
£13,331
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
£398
Figura su ezechiele
Davide Ricchetti
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£3,733
Station Worker’s Loop
Polina Izvekova
Painting - 100 x 120 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
£3,066
Introportrait aux jours d'été
David Jamin
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1 inch
£2,266
Blonde Brune Rousse
Ghislaine Ferreira
Painting - 115 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.3 x 35 x 0.8 inch
£1,093
Passionnément
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 123 x 195 x 2 cm Painting - 48.4 x 76.8 x 0.8 inch
£5,777
La troupe
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 150 x 150 x 2.5 cm Painting - 59.1 x 59.1 x 1 inch
£5,599
Dua Lipa Portrait
Annabell Mozer
Painting - 42 x 29.7 x 3 cm Painting - 16.5 x 11.7 x 1.2 inch
£2,355
Mujer rojo y azul
José Ramón Lozano
Painting - 60 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£2,844
Queen of butterflies
Monika Nowak
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£4,977
Kings of the Renaissance
Mohammad Ariyaei
Painting - 70 x 50 x 5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 2 inch
£2,933
Marriage of two mystical poets
Mohammad Ariyaei
Painting - 70 x 50 x 5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 2 inch
£2,933
Aunty Mansa and daughter
Emmanuel Adiamah
Painting - 68.6 x 68.6 x 10.2 cm Painting - 27 x 27 x 4 inch
£6,800
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
£995 £846
Scarface - The World is Yours
Belart Collective
Print - 101 x 77 x 4 cm Print - 39.8 x 30.3 x 1.6 inch
£2,213
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
£1,421
Her Softness
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,333 £813
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
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
L'envole I - préchauffage
Patricia Dubois
Painting - 93 x 70 x 3.5 cm Painting - 36.6 x 27.6 x 1.4 inch
£1,955
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 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.