Portrait Painting for Sale
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Miss Guided
Sorrel Mocchia di Coggiola
Painting - 60 x 81 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.9 x 1.2 inch
$3,393
I Still Wear Your Shirt
Joyce Fournier
Painting - 30.5 x 40.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 12 x 16 x 1 inch
$620
The Ukrainian Girl at the Morning Lake
Ruslana Levandovska
Painting - 71.1 x 55.9 x 1.9 cm Painting - 28 x 22 x 0.75 inch
$4,200
The reader II
Ruslana Levandovska
Painting - 91.4 x 76.2 x 1.9 cm Painting - 36 x 30 x 0.75 inch
$16,500
Sweet morning with a cup of coffee
Natalya Mougenot
Painting - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Painting - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$430
Le chat bleu
Albena Vatcheva
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,301 $1,236
Structure de la folie II
Julie Ruelle
Painting - 116 x 75 x 3 cm Painting - 45.7 x 29.5 x 1.2 inch
$2,827
Hommage à Camille Claudel
Duytter
Painting - 100 x 100 x 1.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.6 inch
$6,672
Elegante assisse pres d'une chaise lyre
Paul César Helleu
Painting - 61 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 24 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$7,351
Azo
Alexandre Monteiro (Hopare)
Painting - 260 x 200 cm Painting - 102.4 x 78.7 inch
Price upon request
Structure de la folie
Julie Ruelle
Painting - 116 x 75 x 3 cm Painting - 45.7 x 29.5 x 1.2 inch
$2,827
Baby Doll n145, H Tribute
Rachel Bergeret
Painting - 70 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$3,902
The Garden og Heavenly Delights
Frank E Hollywood
Painting - 130 x 110 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 43.3 x 1.2 inch
$15,267
Jeune fille à la guitare
Joseph Piermatteo
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1 inch
$2,375
Jeune fille au coeur tendre
Joseph Piermatteo
Painting - 61 x 50 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 1 inch
$1,696
The Pink Collar (Le Col Rose)
Alain Rigollier
Painting - 55 x 46 x 1 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Girl with Black Hair (Fille aux Cheveux Noirs)
Alain Rigollier
Painting - 55 x 46 x 1 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
Sold
The Gaze (Green)
Godspower Odogwu
Painting - 86.2 x 61.5 x 3 cm Painting - 33.9 x 24.2 x 1.2 inch
$1,694 $1,441
Forgotten (Incapacitated)
Woko Aguru
Painting - 122.5 x 104.5 x 3 cm Painting - 48.2 x 41.1 x 1.2 inch
$5,428
The Gaze II (Blue)
Godspower Odogwu
Painting - 91 x 61 x 3 cm Painting - 35.8 x 24 x 1.2 inch
$1,696
Rural Rugged I
Godspower Odogwu
Painting - 84.5 x 86 x 2.5 cm Painting - 33.3 x 33.9 x 1 inch
$1,923
Little dancing queen
DB Waterman
Painting - 99.8 x 69.9 x 2 cm Painting - 39.3 x 27.5 x 0.8 inch
$2,930
Pool, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Daniel Loveday
Painting - 70.1 x 100.1 x 4.1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
Sold
Questions IV, Painting, Acrylic on canvas
Daniel Loveday
Painting - 89.9 x 74.9 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 29.5 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Saturday swing II
DB Waterman
Painting - 134.9 x 84.8 x 4.6 cm Painting - 53.1 x 33.4 x 1.8 inch
Sold
Girl with a Cat
David Popiashvili
Painting - 43 x 30.5 x 4 cm Painting - 16.9 x 12 x 1.6 inch
$1,600
Georgia In Her Desert
Jo Beer
Painting - 59.9 x 59.9 x 3.8 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.5 inch
$1,624
L'orangé des fruits murs
De Welfes
Painting - 80 x 60 x 0.2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,470
Rendez-vous vénitien
Georges Corominas
Painting - 46 x 55 x 2 cm Painting - 18.1 x 21.7 x 0.8 inch
$6,107
Le jeune homme
Giuseppe Piermatteo
Painting - 81 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
$2,081
Isabelle à la piscine
Marine Walon
Painting - 60 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,809
Ancient Egyptian Woman Figure
Mario Molinari
Painting - 34.5 x 16.2 x 0.1 cm Painting - 13.6 x 6.4 x 0 inch
$565
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
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.
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.
A portrait can be created in various different art styles and forms, including sculpture, painting and drawing.
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.