Somber Portrait Painters

Sadness, melancholy and gloom have found an outlet in artists throughout history and in the depiction of figurative art. Through artists, humanity and their emotional and physical states are portrayed to be viewed and related to. The instant recognition of such a grave subject also plagues human history itself, thus carving out its own rightful spot amongst the history of art movements. In Edgar Degas' 1875 painting L'Absinthe, where viewers see a portrait of a young woman solemnly contemplating her situation, disengaged from their gaze, her surroundings, maybe even from herself. 

Dark hues and colors define somber portrait painting and can highlight the cause of such sadness, whether that be the subject's emotional state or a greater rendering of the world's expanse and the human existence within it. Existential or not, the traits of somber artwork can be found in our own collection of portraits on Artsper. The portraiture work of Nicolas Fropo de Habart works the body in all its dimensions to create an absolute feeling of vastness while Antoine Stevens also depicts wandering souls in his dimmed portraiture. But given the nature of humanity, somber depictions of the figure are not entirely unexpected…


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Print, Diavasi, Yoann Merienne

Yoann Merienne

Print - 58 x 110 cm Print - 22.8 x 43.3 inch

$971

Print, Dream, Insane 51

Insane 51

Print - 70 x 70 cm Print - 27.6 x 27.6 inch

$1,808

Painting, Selo F, Ivan Tzonev

Ivan Tzonev

Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch

$704

Print, Agora, Marc Prat

Marc Prat

Print - 62 x 96 cm Print - 24.4 x 37.8 inch

$667

Print, Abierta 2, Antonio Saura

Antonio Saura

Print - 75 x 104 x 0.1 cm Print - 29.5 x 40.9 x 0 inch

$2,669

Painting, Rade, Philippe Pasqua

Philippe Pasqua

Painting - 330 x 220 x 10 cm Painting - 129.9 x 86.6 x 3.9 inch

$145,606 $87,364

Painting, Velvet, Lisbeth Buonanno

Lisbeth Buonanno

Painting - 10 x 15 x 0.1 cm Painting - 3.9 x 5.9 x 0 inch

$728

Painting, Geisha, Michelino Iorizzo

Michelino Iorizzo

Painting - 31 x 22 x 1 cm Painting - 12.2 x 8.7 x 0.4 inch

$849

Painting, The Masks, Mino Maccari

Mino Maccari

Painting - 24.5 x 34 x 0.1 cm Painting - 9.6 x 13.4 x 0 inch

$1,456

Sculpture, Minus, Yoann Merienne

Yoann Merienne

Sculpture - 59 x 37 x 28 cm Sculpture - 23.2 x 14.6 x 11 inch

$14,561

Painting, Zaltaïne, Yoann Merienne

Yoann Merienne

Painting - 120 x 90 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch

$8,494

Painting, Meditacion P XI, Marc Prat

Marc Prat

Painting - 12 x 12 x 0.1 cm Painting - 4.7 x 4.7 x 0 inch

$303

Fine Art Drawings, Vanité, Philippe Pasqua

Philippe Pasqua

Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.05 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch

$4,611

Print, Vanité, Pei-Ming Yan

Pei-Ming Yan

Print - 78 x 119 x 0.1 cm Print - 30.7 x 46.9 x 0 inch

$1,941

Sculpture, Taureau 5, Julien Cuny

Julien Cuny

Sculpture - 35 x 25 x 15 cm Sculpture - 13.8 x 9.8 x 5.9 inch

$910

Painting, Icare bleu, Hom Nguyen

Hom Nguyen

Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch

$14,439

Print, Untitled, Lidia Masllorens

Lidia Masllorens

Print - 150 x 150 x 1 cm Print - 59.1 x 59.1 x 0.4 inch

$5,824

Painting, Peace, Marie-Ange Daudé

Marie-Ange Daudé

Painting - 87 x 87 x 2 cm Painting - 34.3 x 34.3 x 0.8 inch

$2,427

Fine Art Drawings, Le fil d'Ariane, Hom Nguyen

Hom Nguyen

Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch

$4,793

Painting, Map IV, Oana Maria Pop

Oana Maria Pop

Painting - 60 x 70 x 4 cm Painting - 23.6 x 27.6 x 1.6 inch

$4,065

Painting, Chrysès, Piet Rodriguez

Piet Rodriguez

Painting - 91 x 64 x 2 cm Painting - 35.8 x 25.2 x 0.8 inch

$2,791

Painting, Officine, Lucile Callegari

Lucile Callegari

Painting - 100 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch

$4,126

Sculpture, Aigua I, Teresa Riba

Teresa Riba

Sculpture - 32 x 8 x 7 cm Sculpture - 12.6 x 3.1 x 2.8 inch

$3,883

Painting, Deep Inside, Ewa Hauton

Ewa Hauton

Painting - 130 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 51.2 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch

$4,732

Sculpture, Nez, Antonio Saura

Nez

Antonio Saura

Sculpture - 51 x 64 x 1 cm Sculpture - 20.1 x 25.2 x 0.4 inch

$6,067

Painting, Cadiz 3, Rene Rikkelman

Rene Rikkelman

Painting - 90 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch

$1,153

Fine Art Drawings, Toro study, Marc Prat

Marc Prat

Fine Art Drawings - 90 x 120 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 35.4 x 47.2 x 0 inch

$946 $852

Painting, Sans titre, Antonio Saura

Antonio Saura

Painting - 30 x 23 x 0.1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.1 x 0 inch

$24,268

Print, Untitled, Maria Carbonero

Maria Carbonero

Print - 25 x 42 x 0.1 cm Print - 9.8 x 16.5 x 0 inch

$728

Sculpture, Mystic, Rene Rikkelman

Rene Rikkelman

Sculpture - 41 x 8 x 33 cm Sculpture - 16.1 x 3.1 x 13 inch

$5,460

Painting, The Minority, Ya-Wei Li

Ya-Wei Li

Painting - 45 x 35 x 4 cm Painting - 17.7 x 13.8 x 1.6 inch

$2,427

Fine Art Drawings, Le Cinq, Nathan Chantob

Nathan Chantob

Fine Art Drawings - 39 x 28.5 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.4 x 11.2 x 0.4 inch

$1,820

Fine Art Drawings, Untitled, Carlos Mendez

Carlos Mendez

Fine Art Drawings - 64 x 45 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.2 x 17.7 x 0 inch

$673

Painting, Les évadés, Nicolas Monjo

Nicolas Monjo

Painting - 89 x 116 x 3 cm Painting - 35 x 45.7 x 1.2 inch

$3,883

Fine Art Drawings, Costume, Eugene Berman

Eugene Berman

Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.8 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 6.5 x 4.6 x 0 inch

$728

Photography, No title, Philippe Pasqua

Philippe Pasqua

Photography - 200 x 156 x 1 cm Photography - 78.7 x 61.4 x 0.4 inch

$18,201

Painting, Wanker, Dylan Cram

Dylan Cram

Painting - 61 x 46 x 4 cm Painting - 24 x 18.1 x 1.6 inch

$1,966

Print, Relinquished, Roger Ballen

Roger Ballen

Print - 90 x 90 x 0.2 cm Print - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch

$16,987

Fine Art Drawings, Portrait, François Chapuis

François Chapuis

Fine Art Drawings - 49 x 35 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.3 x 13.8 x 0.1 inch

$704

Painting, Sans, Florian Eymann

Florian Eymann

Painting - 116 x 73 x 3 cm Painting - 45.7 x 28.7 x 1.2 inch

$3,033 $2,427

Painting, Free, Sancko

Sancko

Painting - 50 x 50 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 inch

$1,201

Sculpture, Bardot, Marin Marcos

Marin Marcos

Sculpture - 56 x 17 x 30 cm Sculpture - 22 x 6.7 x 11.8 inch

$3,033

Painting, The Fishing, Eugene Berman

Eugene Berman

Painting - 17.1 x 23.8 x 0.1 cm Painting - 6.7 x 9.4 x 0 inch

$1,031

Fine Art Drawings, Woman, Simon Goldberg

Simon Goldberg

Fine Art Drawings - 12 x 15 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 4.7 x 5.9 x 0 inch

$364

Painting, Makeda, Antoine Stevens

Antoine Stevens

Painting - 180 x 150 x 3 cm Painting - 70.9 x 59.1 x 1.2 inch

$10,799

Print, Resilience 2, Sancko

Sancko

Print - 30 x 60 cm Print - 11.8 x 23.6 inch

$229

Painting, 4-5-17, Montse Valdés

Montse Valdés

Painting - 160 x 195 cm Painting - 63 x 76.8 inch

$25,991

Fine Art Drawings, Soldier, Jacques Hirtz

Jacques Hirtz

Fine Art Drawings - 41 x 29 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch

$364

Painting, Portrait 2, Erdna André

Erdna André

Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch

$971

Painting, Grace Kelly, Marin Marcos

Marin Marcos

Painting - 160 x 130 x 3 cm Painting - 63 x 51.2 x 1.2 inch

$21,841

Fine Art Drawings, Sepulchre, Alfred Pichon

Alfred Pichon

Fine Art Drawings - 24 x 27 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.4 x 10.6 x 0 inch

$582

Painting, Portrait, Laurent Godard

Laurent Godard

Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch

$3,397

Fine Art Drawings, Pensive, Erdna André

Erdna André

Fine Art Drawings - 100 x 70 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch

$607

Painting, Revisiting, Duke Asidere

Duke Asidere

Painting - 76.2 x 55.9 cm Painting - 30 x 22 inch

$1,820

Painting, Ritual, Melinda Matyas

Melinda Matyas

Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch

$6,067