Portrait Painting for Sale
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Adrian's dreams
Clément Herrmann
Painting - 20.3 x 30.5 x 0.3 cm Painting - 8 x 12 x 0.1 inch
€1,000
Nostalgie 1 - Bande dessinée vintage - Bibliothèque rose
Murzo
Painting - 84 x 72 x 2 cm Painting - 33.1 x 28.3 x 0.8 inch
€1,500
Portrait of Theophilus
Ganiyat Abdulazeez
Painting - 50.8 x 45.7 x 2.5 cm Painting - 20 x 18 x 1 inch
€1,222
Songe d'une nuit d'été
Marie Tissot
Painting - 60 x 45 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,200
Mahsa and the lion
Mehnoush Modonpour
Painting - 46 x 38 x 1.5 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 x 0.6 inch
€880
The Lady with the Necklace
Elisabeth Constantin
Painting - 34 x 34 x 4 cm Painting - 13.4 x 13.4 x 1.6 inch
€1,200
Lavandière bretonne
Marguerita Pillini
Painting - 40 x 24.5 x 1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 9.6 x 0.4 inch
€643
Another hard day
Ronex Ahimbisibwe
Painting - 40 x 60 x 2.5 cm Painting - 15.7 x 23.6 x 1 inch
€1,450
DON’T LOOK AT ME : UNSEEN ELEGANCE
Ryoko Watanabe
Painting - 50 x 67 x 5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 26.4 x 2 inch
€2,000
I Can't Recall It Lightly At All (Copper)
B.D. White
Painting - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Painting - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
€1,124
La Bella Utopia
Marcelo Pedrozo
Painting - 29.5 x 20.5 x 3 cm Painting - 11.6 x 8.1 x 1.2 inch
€1,836
La Magia del Bosque
Mariafergo Art
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€1,691
Surréaliste 1972 Surrealist, Population d'images Images population
Maurice Rapin
Painting - 30 x 40 x 0.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
€1,250
Svejk et la bierre I
Yovana Dimitrova
Painting - 150 x 95 x 2 cm Painting - 59.1 x 37.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,300
Femme dans la lumière
Abraham Dayan
Painting - 55 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
€1,500
Riechie Rich
Przemyslaw Swierzynski
Painting - 70 x 50 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€2,000
The violinistt and his furry friend
Yulia Dvoiris
Painting - 50 x 40 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 1.2 inch
€684
Voleur de cœur
Max Rovira
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 1 inch
€2,800 €2,520
Amant de la Terre
Sandy Cunningham
Painting - 61 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm Painting - 24 x 36 x 1.5 inch
€1,091
French Cancan / Moulin Rouge
Patricia Molinaro
Painting - 120 x 160 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 63 x 0.8 inch
€4,200
Autoportrait aviaire
Hatem Akrout
Painting - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€2,000
Orchidia-Queen of the Night
Kohlene Hendrickson
Painting - 40 x 30 x 5 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 2 inch
€1,700
Blue and yellow character with flowers
Gabo Mendoza
Painting - 70 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
€1,500
Rebel without a cause
Josh One
Painting - 147 x 98 x 4.5 cm Painting - 57.9 x 38.6 x 1.8 inch
€1,900
La route est longue pour Gibraltar
Antonio Almodovar
Painting - 46 x 38 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 inch
€1,050
Donna alla fontana
Salvatore Cippone
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,300
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
€1,173
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
€1,599
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
€1,173
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.