Portrait Painting for Sale
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Peace Shall Prevail 3
Babafemi Ogunkanmbi
Painting - 61 x 38.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 15 x 1 inch
$2,000
Les chants de la terre
Corinne Boureau
Painting - 109 x 91 x 3 cm Painting - 42.9 x 35.8 x 1.2 inch
$8,325
Saxo Blues - série Jazz
Denise Kehl
Painting - 84 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 33.1 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,052
Nkechi and Daniel
Ife Kalejaiye
Painting - 100.1 x 100.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1 inch
$1,850
Portrait of Willy
Samson Tolulope Daramola
Painting - 76.2 x 63.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 30 x 25 x 1 inch
$2,000
Purple Couch
Oluwapelumi Oluyemi
Painting - 100.1 x 89.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 35.1 x 1 inch
$1,655
Delightful soul
Taiwo Samuel Olutimileyin
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
$1,850
Anonimo pank
Dimitris Pavlopoulos
Painting - 116.6 x 99.8 x 4.6 cm Painting - 45.9 x 39.3 x 1.8 inch
$4,000
I Expect
Esinulo Chiamaka Praise Chiamaka Praise
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
$1,650
Obiajulu
Rogers Akamike Akachukwubuikem
Painting - 86.4 x 71.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 34 x 28 x 1 inch
$1,400
Untitled (Limbo 1)
Vincent Obinka
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,000
Self-Worth
Hezekiah Oyejide Obidare
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 2 inch
$2,000
My Culture, My Inheritance
Ajenifuja Abiodun
Painting - 121.9 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1 inch
$1,850
Frère et sœur
Emmanuelle Tenailleau
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$999
The goddess
Kolawole Samson Oluwadare
Painting - 119.9 x 89.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 1 inch
$1,950
Culmination of Things
Kerry Horne
Painting - 120 x 100 x 2.5 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1 inch
$5,439
Human Being and Nature
Lisbeth Aggerbeck
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1 inch
$4,651
Rievocazione michelangiolesca
Massimiliano Carisdeo
Painting - 50 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$666
Thoughtfulness of Maria Magdalena
Tom Kuran
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$4,629
Girl On A Hill
Daniel Oguche Junior
Painting - 50.8 x 35.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 20 x 14 x 1 inch
$1,550
The alleged portrait.
Igor Shulman
Painting - 59.7 x 59.7 x 5.1 cm Painting - 23.5 x 23.5 x 2 inch
$1,500
Blonde comme tes pieds
Matthias Gaillaguet
Painting - 61 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$888
Raz'ebala Vse Ebalo
Anna Bukhareva
Painting - 30.5 x 43.2 x 0.2 cm Painting - 12 x 17 x 0.1 inch
$1,776
Lovers - Kiss In Purple And Blue
Carmen Tyrrell
Painting - 75.9 x 102.1 x 1.5 cm Painting - 29.9 x 40.2 x 0.6 inch
$1,805
Soirée à Montmartre
Bertrand De Cointet
Painting - 73 x 92 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 36.2 x 0.8 inch
$866
Let them get on your head
Mirela Karadzhova
Painting - 50 x 70 x 0.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.2 inch
$755
Fluorine Slave portrait.
López del Espino
Painting - 160 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 63 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$1,665
Red (Hommage to Rembrandt)
Melinda Matyas
Painting - 45.7 x 35.6 x 2 cm Painting - 18 x 14 x 0.8 inch
$1,887
Wuthering Heights
Zoe Elizabeth Norman
Painting - 61 x 51.1 x 2 cm Painting - 24 x 20.1 x 0.8 inch
$2,010
An unkept appointment
John Popkess
Painting - 50 x 39.9 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,685
Charbonnage 1
Patsheli Kahambo Kitange
Painting - 180 x 180 x 5 cm Painting - 70.9 x 70.9 x 2 inch
$2,775
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
$1,200
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
$959
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
$1,332
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,775
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
$1,200
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.