Portrait Painting for Sale
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Save your search to find it quickly
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Rousse aux yeux clairs
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$565
Rouge baiser
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 61 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 24 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$622
Emotion
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 100 x 73 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.7 x 0.8 inch
$2,431
Sans titre 10 (DED359708)
Rudyard Heaton
Painting - 30 x 40 x 0.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
$271
Miroir « Ombre »
Nicolas Nostra
Painting - 120 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
$8,934
Miroir « Lumière »
Nicolas Nostra
Painting - 120 x 360 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 141.7 x 1.6 inch
$15,719
Lady with a horn
Mikhail Baranovskiy
Painting - 100 x 70 x 1.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.6 inch
$2,827
Games People Play
Mikhail Baranovskiy
Painting - 100 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,827
Just the two of us
Mikhail Baranovskiy
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2.5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1 inch
$2,827
Les oiseaux dans la neige
Christian Silvain
Painting - 80 x 70 x 8 cm Painting - 31.5 x 27.6 x 3.1 inch
$11,309
Klimt Interprétation #3
Mike Jacobs
Painting - 61 x 46 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 18.1 x 1 inch
$1,108
Mujer Con Ojos Verdes Y Pelo Negro
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$679
She screams her life
Christian Bader
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$3,630
Think of a place we could go
Jana & JS
Painting - 50 x 50 x 5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 2 inch
$2,771
Le soleil et la paix
Sergio Moscona
Painting - 63 x 23 x 2 cm Painting - 24.8 x 9.1 x 0.8 inch
$2,488
La lecture
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 30 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
$599
Un bel endroit
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 50 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,730
Une petite soiree
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$2,149
The Girlfriends
Nataliya Bagatskaya
Painting - 120 x 85 x 2.2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 33.5 x 0.9 inch
$2,827
On your tomb, They won't smell nice
Obeka Simon
Painting - 114.3 x 101.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 45 x 40 x 1 inch
$2,800
Ambiance feutrée
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$995
Bar à Chats
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$995
It's Not Me, You're The Joke
Evelyn Morgan
Painting - 90 x 75 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 29.5 x 1.2 inch
$1,985
Paradise Alive
Amelie Monira Egenolf
Painting - 80 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
$2,545
False Confession
Sergiu-Bogdan Roman
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 1 inch
$4,354
Accumulation XIX (SG110)
Sylvie Guyomard
Painting - 73 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,809
You are my whole world
Carlos Pun Art
Painting - 90 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,250
Ethereal grace - girl portrait series
Carlos Pun Art
Painting - 90 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,250
Foutan i angrès pa koshon - Ne pas tenir des remarques d’autrui. Parle toujours, tu m’intéresses
Jace
Painting - 90 x 90 x 4.5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1.8 inch
$4,637
Dialogue entre voisin 2
Lila Maroun Frem
Painting - 36 x 36 x 1.5 cm Painting - 14.2 x 14.2 x 0.6 inch
$2,262
Shared vision
Abiodun Nafiu Azeez
Painting - 106.7 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 42 x 36 x 1 inch
$1,450
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
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.