Portrait Painting for Sale
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Lady with a hand fan
Anatoly Metlan
Painting - 91 x 61 x 2.5 cm Painting - 35.8 x 24 x 1 inch
€6,610
Twenty Shades of Sunlight
Carlos Gamez de Francisco
Painting - 140 x 64 x 2 cm Painting - 55.1 x 25.2 x 0.8 inch
€7,600
Our fearless mothers, who bathed in the shadows
Massoud Hayoun
Painting - 61 x 91 x 5 cm Painting - 24 x 35.8 x 2 inch
€3,700
Cavalier avec un glaive sur canapé
Victorien Bazo
Painting - 90 x 70 x 5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 2 inch
€3,200
Le vieux Korodouga 1
Amadou Opa Bathily
Painting - 118 x 130 x 5 cm Painting - 46.5 x 51.2 x 2 inch
€3,800
Les improbables
Isabelle Peirone
Painting - 100 x 73 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.7 x 1 inch
€2,000
The Queen's Head, Underbank
Michael Gutteridge
Painting - 48.3 x 38.1 x 0.3 cm Painting - 19 x 15 x 0.1 inch
€1,298
Hermiona
Isabelle Scheltjens
Painting - 138 x 103 x 4.5 cm Painting - 54.3 x 40.6 x 1.8 inch
€17,500
Tombstone for Doc (Neapolitan)
Jay Hanscom
Painting - 92 x 31 x 6 cm Painting - 36.2 x 12.2 x 2.4 inch
€905
Memories of summer
Natalie Shiporina
Painting - 70 x 70 x 1.8 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.7 inch
€2,200
Keith Dog
Raphaël Federici (ParisSketchCulture)
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
€4,197
Black Man Stereotype 2 (Mandingo)
Akinboye Akinola Peter
Painting - 119.9 x 99.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.3 x 1 inch
€2,722
Silence of being
Mayra AleJandra Lifischtz
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
€1,166
Frida’s Tribal Journey
Jules Holland
Painting - 120 x 90 x 2.2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0.9 inch
€5,500
I am supposed to stay the same
Jana & JS
Painting - 44 x 83 x 4 cm Painting - 17.3 x 32.7 x 1.6 inch
€2,500
Sans titre - profil d'homme
Hashtag Jeff (D-Philippot)
Painting - 120 x 65 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 25.6 x 1.6 inch
€2,000
Drain color
Cynthia Coulombe-Bégin
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 3.8 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 1.5 inch
€1,842
Hit the Dome ( Fuoco)
Gianluca Fascetto
Painting - 90 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
€1,100 €990
Histoire de Guadeloupe 6
Françoise Sémiramoth
Painting - 130 x 97 x 1 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 0.4 inch
€12,000
Un peu, beaucoup, passionnément
Virginie Clement
Painting - 50 x 40 x 4 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 1.6 inch
€500
A Girl In A Window
Yosl Bergner
Painting - 40 x 30 x 3.5 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 1.4 inch
€4,957
Rotterdam et moi 1
Marian Williams
Painting - 130 x 97 x 2 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 0.8 inch
€2,950
Roots of Identity 2
Iyiola Odunayo
Painting - 121.9 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1 inch
€2,770
Gabrielle II
Christiane Simon-Roques
Painting - 100 x 70 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 2 inch
€1,400
My Peregrinations 4
Damola Ayegbayo
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1 inch
€2,722
Colours of the Pain
Kubra Aliyeva
Painting - 50 x 30 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch
€1,900
Benicio del Toro
Jean-Michel Lourenço
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
€1,150
Unique (African Allure) 4
Oluwafemi Akanmu
Painting - 81.3 x 61 x 2.5 cm Painting - 32 x 24 x 1 inch
€2,041
Alexandria’s Genesis
Paris Sergiou
Painting - 120 x 120 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
€1,250
Overthink: Juste ici
Marie-Chloé Duval
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1.5 inch
€2,819
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
€1,166
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
€1,599
The beauty of dance XII
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 49 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.3 x 0.8 inch
€1,700
Abstract Guernica Collection - Tribute to Picasso
Freda People Art
Painting - 105 x 105 x 0.3 cm Painting - 41.3 x 41.3 x 0.1 inch
€1,500
L'envole I - préchauffage
Patricia Dubois
Painting - 93 x 70 x 3.5 cm Painting - 36.6 x 27.6 x 1.4 inch
€2,200
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
€1,200
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.