Portrait Painting for Sale
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La route est longue pour Gibraltar
Antonio Almodovar
Painting - 46 x 38 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 inch
$1,180
Time Flies but Memory Stays
Adha Widayansah
Painting - 75 x 60 cm Painting - 29.5 x 23.6 inch
$1,540
Excelsior
Luis Martins dit L7Matrix
Painting - 150 x 100 x 5 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 2 inch
$5,057
Allégorie du havre
Juliane Blasquez
Painting - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,180
Te tiny esther & coffee
Jeong Won Chun
Painting - 53 x 45.5 x 4 cm Painting - 20.9 x 17.9 x 1.6 inch
$1,671
Colours of the Pain
Kubra Aliyeva
Painting - 50 x 30 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch
$2,135
Le père est sa famille
Robert Koumassadouno
Painting - 120 x 90 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,079
Jeunes femmes africaines en cérémonie de mariage
Irina Condé
Painting - 121 x 56 x 2 cm Painting - 47.6 x 22 x 0.8 inch
$2,236
Eyes on me custom skate deck skateboard
Andrew Wallas
Painting - 22 x 85 x 1 cm Painting - 8.7 x 33.5 x 0.4 inch
$955
Fight for a reason
Harouna Ouedraogo
Painting - 150 x 100 x 5 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 2 inch
$3,933
Dame à l'éventail
Vittorio Gussoni
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,919
Hommage à Dubuffet Coucou Bordel
Signé Dupied
Painting - 65 x 54 x 5 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 x 2 inch
$1,236
Rostros imaginarios
Montserrat Tobella Bosch
Painting - 44 x 26 x 1.5 cm Painting - 17.3 x 10.2 x 0.6 inch
$4,045
Occupied space
Basel Dahman
Painting - 100.1 x 80 x 4.1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$40,000
Shoulder to shoulder
Lori Stanford
Painting - 76.2 x 101.6 x 2.2 cm Painting - 30 x 40 x 0.9 inch
$3,540
El gato de Velázquez o Paseo en la eternidad
Juan Carlos Romano
Painting - 99 x 99 cm Painting - 39 x 39 inch
$5,057
Le faiseur de rosée
Philippe Loubat
Painting - 55 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$1,236
Étude de portrait
Frédéric Schmied
Painting - 29.5 x 22.6 x 0.2 cm Painting - 11.6 x 8.9 x 0.1 inch
$746
Portrait d'Ursula Stauffacher au livre rouge
Alexandre Blanchet
Painting - 91.5 x 75 x 2 cm Painting - 36 x 29.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,720
Untitled
Larissa De Jesus Negron
Painting - 34.3 x 27.9 x 2 cm Painting - 13.5 x 11 x 0.8 inch
$3,000
Obehi (Hand of God)
Barnabas Macauley
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
$4,200
No Regrets (Narcisse)
Vanessa Dakinsky
Painting - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,020
Crépuscule
Jocelyne Deschamps-Kus
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,348
Jeune fille espagnole au foulard
Edouard Morerod
Painting - 47.5 x 34.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 18.7 x 13.6 x 0.2 inch
$872
Personnage assis " Gong Hill Frontière du Tanganyika - Kenya"
Alois Wittlin
Painting - 65 x 53.7 x 0.5 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.1 x 0.2 inch
$1,090
0 Dark Thirty
Agnès de la Roncière
Painting - 70 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,135
Portrait d'enfant portant une carafe
Janebé Weber
Painting - 65.5 x 50.5 x 3 cm Painting - 25.8 x 19.9 x 1.2 inch
$1,376
Serie geisha 00082
Josep Pozo
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
$2,023
Making a Case
Switzin Twikirize
Painting - 140 x 100.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 55.1 x 39.4 x 1 inch
$3,500
Ewaoluwa (The Beauty of God)
Emeka Ndibam
Painting - 61 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 20 x 1 inch
$2,250
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
Diamant Noir
Sinden Collier
Photography - 51 x 41 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
$1,798
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
Passeur de brise
Pascal Billard
Sculpture - 78 x 45 x 30 cm Sculpture - 30.7 x 17.7 x 11.8 inch
$1,663
Mickey Mouse Soldier
Belart Collective
Painting - 120 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$2,236
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
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.