Portrait Painting for Sale
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Flower/Boulder
Maxime Cousineau Perusse
Painting - 152.4 x 101.6 x 3.8 cm Painting - 60 x 40 x 1.5 inch
$1,768
Hatted (detras de tu mirada)
Marcelo Novo
Painting - 61 x 61 x 3.8 cm Painting - 24 x 24 x 1.5 inch
$1,650
Lovers, I’ll put a spell on you. (I was listening to Nina Simone)
Suthamma (Ta) Byrne
Painting - 130 x 180 x 4 cm Painting - 51.2 x 70.9 x 1.6 inch
$6,575
Girl with a yellow ball and a white dog
Sasha Katinauskiene
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,116
Body vs soul (grey)
Leikun Nahusenay
Painting - 100 x 75 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 1.2 inch
$3,349
Siestes short ancres marines
Pascal Astier
Painting - 60 x 120 x 2.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 47.2 x 1 inch
$2,233
Jeune Fille Au Chapeau
André Averianov
Painting - 50 x 60 x 3.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 1.4 inch
$2,791
Journée de Printemps
Laurent Folco
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3.8 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.5 inch
$2,902
Girl with Pearl Earring (after Vermeer)
Peter Klashorst
Painting - 42 x 30 x 0.1 cm Painting - 16.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$307
Worship 3
Shijirbaatar Jambalsuren
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$4,236
Vieille femme et son âne
Alberto Cecconi
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$938
It_helped_me_diamond
Axel Jenny
Painting - 125 x 100 x 0.1 cm Painting - 49.2 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$2,233
Refracted Visage 1
Niall Pickvance
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,400
Afrocentric Radiance
Bakare Abubakri-sideeq Babatunde
Painting - 139.7 x 124.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 55 x 49 x 1 inch
$3,400
La dame au petard
Salam Moneyang
Painting - 120 x 120 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
$2,009
Autoportrait et le bois
Carmen Selma
Painting - 92 x 73 x 2 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.7 x 0.8 inch
$3,572
Envol et profondeur
Alain Beraud
Painting - 81 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
$12,837
Woman in Blue with Headscarf
Nicolle Menegaldo
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$2,551
La guerre du feu 1
Thibault Franc
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,674
Je l'ai sur le pouce
Béatrice Terra
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
$2,791
Imagine John Lennon
Virginie Schroeder
Painting - 51 x 51 x 2 cm Painting - 20.1 x 20.1 x 0.8 inch
$1,340
Quiet Reflections
Ruslana Levandovska
Painting - 76.2 x 61 x 1.9 cm Painting - 30 x 24 x 0.75 inch
$12,090
Frida Kahlo with Dua Lipa
Annabell Mozer
Painting - 120 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$8,930
La dama del armiño
Miguel Oñate
Painting - 141 x 103 x 3 cm Painting - 55.5 x 40.6 x 1.2 inch
$6,698
Colours of the Pain
Kubra Aliyeva
Painting - 50 x 30 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch
$2,121
Preparing the pan
Dzovig Arnelian
Painting - 25.5 x 16.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 10 x 6.5 x 0.2 inch
$600
Shadow on concrete
Polina Izvekova
Painting - 50 x 40 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,842
For the Love of Gala
Robert Walker
Painting - 86 x 51 x 4 cm Painting - 33.9 x 20.1 x 1.6 inch
$1,674
De l'ombre à la lumière
Gor bedrossian
Painting - 97 x 78 x 3 cm Painting - 38.2 x 30.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,674
War and Peace
Sebastian Picker
Painting - 100 x 240 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 94.5 x 0.4 inch
$18,977
Gainsbourg, Le palace #266
Céline Pierzchala
Painting - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$357
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
$964
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
$1,785
The beauty of dance XII
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 49 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,898
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
$1,340
Portrait #2. From the Portraits series
Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku
Painting - 30 x 20.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 8.2 x 0.1 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.