Portrait Painting for Sale
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Mademoiselle Colombe
Claude Billès
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
£1,066
Street art walk in New York-1
SmaK-titi
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,422
Aqueous transmission
Nolwenn Samson
Painting - 100 x 100 x 1.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.6 inch
£4,266
Portrait of the artist
Mikhail Baranovskiy
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£1,333
La famille du mois d'octobre
Zafi
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£6,221
Woman with orange flowers
Dondi Schwartz
Painting - 50 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
£711
Hopeful of the dream city
Joshua Salami
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
£1,617
I love my style in Louis Vuitton
Patrick Cornée
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
£1,066
In her favorite color 1
Joshua Salami
Painting - 50.8 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 inch
£995
New Hope XXIX
Yoann Bonneville (YBA)
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
£2,488
Massavo the Makokean
Lazarus Massavo
Painting - 101.6 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 30 x 1 inch
£1,659
Because I Believed
Lazarus Massavo
Painting - 101.6 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 30 x 1 inch
£1,659
The Zeal of my father's house 2
Lazarus Massavo
Painting - 101.6 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 30 x 1 inch
£1,659
The courageous woman(Feminine Epidemic series) II
Ogunniyi Oluwatosin
Painting - 91.4 x 61 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 24 x 1 inch
£1,659
La cage, un nouveau monde
Sandra Chevrier
Painting - 76 x 56 x 3 cm Painting - 29.9 x 22 x 1.2 inch
£13,242
Surprised with satisfaction
Christian Bader
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,715
Mujer con vestido azul
Eva Prieto
Painting - 81 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£1,600
Strength in Diversity
Damola Ayegbayo
Painting - 106.7 x 213.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 42 x 84 x 2 inch
£4,934
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
£18,041
Mystérieuse 2 - série portrait de femme
Aldina Mateus
Painting - 60 x 50 x 4 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 1.6 inch
£906
Rouge baiser - série portrait de femme
Aldina Mateus
Painting - 50 x 70 x 4 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 1.6 inch
£842
Femme au pétard
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 30 x 30 x 1.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.6 inch
£338
Le reflet de tes pensées
Mathilde de Bellecombe
Painting - 146 x 97 x 4 cm Painting - 57.5 x 38.2 x 1.6 inch
£3,297
MIZUIRO7 : BLU KAWAII REVERIE WITH LOVE, PEACE AND WHIMSICAL SKULLS
Aya Toshikawa
Painting - 112 x 120 x 5 cm Painting - 44.1 x 47.2 x 2 inch
£4,710
Les amoureux
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 20 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
£249
Jour de sortie
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 20 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
£249
Au bar du coin
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 30 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
£338
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.