Portrait Painting for Sale
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La liberté de plaire guidant le peuple
Marie Rauzy
Painting - 130 x 200 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 78.7 x 1.2 inch
$20,788
Une envie de Picasso A desire of Picasso
Marie Rauzy
Painting - 100 x 81 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 1.2 inch
$7,753
Portrait of Basquiat
Emmanuel Ojebola
Painting - 71.1 x 71.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 28 x 28 x 1 inch
$3,000
Flat Lies (Terra)
Gianluca Fascetto
Painting - 90 x 70 x 1 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,236
Sous le soleil exactement/15
Jean-Jacques Venturini
Painting - 50 x 61 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 24 x 1.2 inch
$899
Femme en bleu à la terrasse d'un café.
Jean-Jacques Venturini
Painting - 81 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,124
Berehynia: Rebirth on the Meadow
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 30 x 60 x 1.8 cm Painting - 11.8 x 23.6 x 0.7 inch
$393
What Nobody Wants to Know
Sebastian Picker
Painting - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$6,742
Cannes Film Festival
Guy Olivier
Painting - 137 x 182 x 3 cm Painting - 53.9 x 71.7 x 1.2 inch
$8,147
Elle aime la couleur rouge.
Jean-Jacques Venturini
Painting - 61 x 50 x 4 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 1.6 inch
$899
Par dessus les grillages 3
Hélène Deghilage
Painting - 100 x 130 cm Painting - 39.4 x 51.2 inch
$4,719
Regard en chien
Aurélie Quentin
Painting - 130 x 130 x 0.1 cm Painting - 51.2 x 51.2 x 0 inch
$6,607
My Name Is Brigitte
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
$5,057
My Name Is Grace
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
$5,057
My Name Is Marylin
Jules Holland
Painting - 100 x 75 x 2.2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.9 inch
$5,057
Pandoras Jar (keeping Hope),
Nadia NL
Painting - 61 x 48.3 x 1.3 cm Painting - 24 x 19 x 0.5 inch
$415
Green Man Kitchen
Dzovig Arnelian
Painting - 14 x 7 x 0.5 cm Painting - 5.5 x 2.8 x 0.2 inch
$430 $387
The ladies are waiting II
Dzovig Arnelian
Painting - 9.5 x 14 x 0.5 cm Painting - 3.7 x 5.5 x 0.2 inch
$480 $432
Teach us to love ourselves
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,800 $2,520
You May Be Lucky
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
$3,200
Kings of the Renaissance
Mohammad Ariyaei
Painting - 70 x 50 x 5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 2 inch
$3,708
Marriage of two mystical poets
Mohammad Ariyaei
Painting - 70 x 50 x 5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 2 inch
$3,708
Figura su ezechiele
Davide Ricchetti
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$4,719
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
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
$971
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
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,797 $1,618
Mickey Mouse Soldier
Belart Collective
Painting - 120 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$2,236
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.