Portrait Painting for Sale
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La vaillante au verre brisé
Léa Dedieu
Painting - 29.7 x 21 x 0.1 cm Painting - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0 inch
£515
La nuit tombe sur la garrigue
Jéko
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
£2,311
Gathering of Nations II
Jo Moore
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 3.8 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 1.5 inch
£1,824
Disco duro
Dimitris Pavlopoulos
Painting - 119.9 x 95 x 4.6 cm Painting - 47.2 x 37.4 x 1.8 inch
£4,147
Anxious portrait
Rebecca Yunjeong Lee
Painting - 73 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£1,833
Essen 21., Mixed Media on Canvas
Jason Lincoln Jeffers
Painting - 61 x 45.7 x 3.8 cm Painting - 24 x 18 x 1.5 inch
£780
Rose Tinted Glasses
Voxx Romana
Painting - 61.5 x 47.5 x 0.1 cm Painting - 24.2 x 18.7 x 0 inch
£409
Ange gardien
Patsheli Kahambo Kitange
Painting - 162 x 130 x 5 cm Painting - 63.8 x 51.2 x 2 inch
£1,955
The Little World Of The Little Prince
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 160 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 63 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£5,332
Jonah spited out on the beach
Tom Kuran
Painting - 80 x 100 x 2.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 39.4 x 1 inch
£4,843
Yellow floating cube following me
Le Hai Linh
Painting - 77 x 53 x 1 cm Painting - 30.3 x 20.9 x 0.4 inch
£1,066
La petite fille aux allumettes
Théo Tobiasse
Painting - 51 x 68 x 5 cm Painting - 20.1 x 26.8 x 2 inch
£31,105
Clinging To Crumbs Of Comfort
Danny O'Connor
Painting - 91 x 61 x 4 cm Painting - 35.8 x 24 x 1.6 inch
£2,582
Woman From Sciacca
Roberto De Francisci
Painting - 40 x 45 x 0.1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 17.7 x 0 inch
£889
Harcèlement
Jean-Paul Bocaj
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£2,488 £2,240
Suren Bogdanovich
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 79 x 52 x 0.3 cm Painting - 31.1 x 20.5 x 0.1 inch
£1,066
Oleg Mikhailovich
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 84 x 54 x 0.3 cm Painting - 33.1 x 21.3 x 0.1 inch
£1,066
Alexei Odintsov
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 80 x 55 x 0.3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 21.7 x 0.1 inch
£1,200
Girl Dancing on a Yellow Ribbon
Adrian Gibbs
Painting - 53 x 43 x 3 cm Painting - 20.9 x 16.9 x 1.2 inch
£1,066
Grito de mujer
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 70 x 70 x 4 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1.6 inch
£978
Rostro que intenta hablar
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 73 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
£800
Mujer pensando
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 81 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
£889
Mujer y su inconsciente
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 65 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
£711
Formas de pintar un cuadro
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 65 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£889
Brigitte Bardot, Vogue, red and gold version
Patrick Cornée
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£2,844
Initiales B.B, Vogue, Pink version
Patrick Cornée
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
£2,222
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
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
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
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.