Portrait Painting for Sale
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Pêcheur
Frederick Reginald Donat
Painting - 47.5 x 26 x 0.5 cm Painting - 18.7 x 10.2 x 0.2 inch
$1,665
Blossom collector (1)
Vahe Bagumyan
Painting - 30 x 24 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$300 $255
Silence of being
Mayra AleJandra Lifischtz
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,450
Jour de fête
Sylvie Julkowski-Egard
Painting - 65 x 55 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.7 x 0.8 inch
$853
Lady with Watch (Femme à la Montre)
Gerard Boersma
Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$443
Turbulences
Didier Merlin
Painting - 150 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 59.1 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,274 $2,046
Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius II
Reinar Foreman
Painting - 150 x 120 x 1 cm Painting - 59.1 x 47.2 x 0.4 inch
$7,957
Portrait de femme
Weiquan Liu
Painting - 86 x 26 x 3 cm Painting - 33.9 x 10.2 x 1.2 inch
$1,591 $1,432
Art for your “Soul”
Anastasiia Dushak
Painting - 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$818
Self Portrait Prize Kid
Troy Henriksen
Painting - 35 x 27 x 2.5 cm Painting - 13.8 x 10.6 x 1 inch
$341
Once Given a White Rose 1
Agbalaya Abdulahi Opeyemi
Painting - 33 x 25.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 13 x 10 x 1 inch
$650
Little dancing queen
DB Waterman
Painting - 99.8 x 69.9 x 2 cm Painting - 39.3 x 27.5 x 0.8 inch
$2,930
Baby Doll n146 Hermes
Rachel Bergeret
Painting - 72 x 42 x 2 cm Painting - 28.3 x 16.5 x 0.8 inch
$3,922
Look at this beauty, honey
Dasha Pogodina
Painting - 94 x 94 x 2 cm Painting - 37 x 37 x 0.8 inch
$1,478
Dans le silence des pages
Anne Horlaville
Painting - 65 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
$1,091
Hôtel Majestic 24
Frédéric Batard
Painting - 115.5 x 80.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 45.5 x 31.7 x 1 inch
$2,148
I'm Alright, Just Here 2
Obeka Simon
Painting - 106.7 x 101.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 42 x 40 x 1 inch
$3,250
State of the Mind
Moses Ndubuzo
Painting - 152.4 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 60 x 48 x 1 inch
$3,450
La Fille au Coq ou Belarus
Svetlana Maksimenko
Painting - 80 x 60 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 inch
$2,814
Virtual Reality
Yannick Aaron
Painting - 150 x 150 x 4.5 cm Painting - 59.1 x 59.1 x 1.8 inch
$6,252
Gabrielle II
Christiane Simon-Roques
Painting - 100 x 70 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 2 inch
$1,591
Eternal (L'Eternel)
Alain Rigollier
Painting - 55 x 46 x 1 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
$557
Seine (The Self Romantic)
Ajegbomogun Damilola
Painting - 152.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 60 x 36 x 1 inch
$3,500
Trust Your Vision
Lena Bera-Pancini
Painting - 90 x 90 x 90 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 35.4 inch
$2,160
Empreinte 10 concrétion
Alexandre Monteiro (Hopare)
Painting - 120 x 120 x 1 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0.4 inch
$34,103
The Garden og Heavenly Delights
Frank E Hollywood
Painting - 130 x 110 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 43.3 x 1.2 inch
$15,346
Ostende et le pantographe
Joël Kermarrec
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,501
Je t'aime moi non plus!
Babeth Puech
Painting - 50 x 100 x 3.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
$1,228
No title - One of six
Atsushi Momoi
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,137
Duality
Alexandre de Poplavsky
Painting - 160 x 110 x 3.5 cm Painting - 63 x 43.3 x 1.4 inch
$31,830
La préparation des udons
Dominique Andrier
Painting - 73 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$3,638 $3,274
Jeune femme au châle et panier de fleures
L. Rubia
Painting - 44 x 33.5 x 1 cm Painting - 17.3 x 13.2 x 0.4 inch
$1,467
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.