Portrait Painting for Sale
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Girl in White, looking Down
Manu De Mey
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,183
Asian Girl in Pink robe
Manu De Mey
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,821
Enfant avec masque de souris
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 65 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
$905 $724
Introspection
Iris C. Pollyanna
Painting - 60 x 45 x 1.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0.6 inch
$1,938
Défense d'afficher
Laurence Hubswerlin Diradourian
Painting - 30 x 40 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
$594
Floating Memory
Miyuki Takanashi
Painting - 72.7 x 72.7 x 4 cm Painting - 28.6 x 28.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,923
Princess of the Night
Miyuki Takanashi
Painting - 72.7 x 53 x 3 cm Painting - 28.6 x 20.9 x 1.2 inch
$1,809
Homme avec coq et poule
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 0.8 inch
$2,827 $2,262
Homme dans fauteuil et ballons
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 0.8 inch
$2,827 $2,262
L'artiste et son marchand
Zafi
Painting - 150 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 59.1 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
$13,571
Visions of the dreaming maiden
Sergey Khachatryan
Painting - 34 x 44 x 2 cm Painting - 13.4 x 17.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,200
Juan San Miguel Allende
Joe Lasker
Painting - 27.9 x 16.5 x 5.1 cm Painting - 11 x 6.5 x 2 inch
$1,950
Playing with mother
Sergey Khachatryan
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,500
Dames sur le rocher bleu
Françoise Lucq
Painting - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,108
Femmes aux cheveux rouges
Françoise Lucq
Painting - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,108
Les falaises bleues
Françoise Lucq
Painting - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,108
Un été couleur cerise
Françoise Lucq
Painting - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,108
Le soldat
Lou Andréas Salomé Tauss
Painting - 92 x 72 x 2 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,199
Ne te cache pas je te vois
Frédéric Batard
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2.5 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 1 inch
$2,103
Hopeful of the dream city
Joshua Salami
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
$1,950
In her favorite color 1
Joshua Salami
Painting - 50.8 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 inch
$1,200
Declined expectation
Joshua Salami
Painting - 50.8 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 inch
$1,200
Hold Me Close In This Difficult Time
Olaosun Oluwapelumi
Painting - 88.9 x 86.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 35 x 34 x 1 inch
$2,000
On the beach (diptych)
Mike Jacobs
Painting - 82 x 102 x 0.4 cm Painting - 32.3 x 40.2 x 0.2 inch
$3,619
Massavo the Makokean
Lazarus Massavo
Painting - 101.6 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,000
Because I Believed
Lazarus Massavo
Painting - 101.6 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,000
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
$2,000
Alone With My Thought
Babatunde Adeogun
Painting - 101.6 x 101.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 40 x 1 inch
$2,800
Un été ocre jaune - séries Les Dames de la côte
Françoise Lucq
Painting - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,108
Un été grenadine - série Les Dames de la côte
Françoise Lucq
Painting - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,108
Un été outre-mer - série Les Dames de la côte
Françoise Lucq
Painting - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,108
Beyond Beauty
Babatunde Adeogun
Painting - 101.6 x 101.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 40 x 1 inch
$3,200
Eyes Wide Shut
Marie Constantelli
Painting - 100 x 150 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 59.1 x 0.4 inch
$2,256
Discover the styles & movements
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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.