Portrait Painting for Sale
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Botticellian Spring
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 92 x 65 x 1 cm Painting - 36.2 x 25.6 x 0.4 inch
$550 $330
The Magic Hidden In The Portraits
Ya-Wei Li
Painting - 45 x 35 x 4 cm Painting - 17.7 x 13.8 x 1.6 inch
$2,244
Sans Titre No°1
Jean-Marc Teillon
Painting - 150 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 59.1 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
$6,731
The forest for the trees
Nick Warren
Painting - 76 x 101.5 x 3.5 cm Painting - 29.9 x 40 x 1.4 inch
$3,433
Le chant des anges
Joseph Piermatteo
Painting - 97 x 130 x 3 cm Painting - 38.2 x 51.2 x 1.2 inch
$5,049
Parisian Opening Night
Christian Jodin
Painting - 65 x 54 x 1 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 x 0.4 inch
$1,683 $1,178
4 Collectors at a Parisian Gallery Opening with Champagne
Christian Jodin
Painting - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$668 $468
Where Are You From
Ilia Balavadze
Painting - 70 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,244
Much Ado about Something (Whimsical Performance)
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$550 $330
Get the fuck out of our way !
Tristan Wu
Painting - 83.5 x 123 x 0.2 cm Painting - 32.9 x 48.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,616
Madonna Che Allatta Il Bambino
Andrea Vandoni
Painting - 60 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,907
The time machine – cover
Tekla Aleksieva
Painting - 22.5 x 33.5 x 0.2 cm Painting - 8.9 x 13.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,032
Don't go to the Garden of Flowers
Natia Sapanadze
Painting - 36 x 47 x 2.5 cm Painting - 14.2 x 18.5 x 1 inch
$2,917
Bubble Gum Girl
Virut Panchabuse
Painting - 180 x 140 x 0.3 cm Painting - 70.9 x 55.1 x 0.1 inch
$14,585
Madame est servie
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 19 x 19 x 1 cm Painting - 7.5 x 7.5 x 0.4 inch
$314
Floating Memory
Miyuki Takanashi
Painting - 72.7 x 72.7 x 4 cm Painting - 28.6 x 28.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,907
Only a Man is a Man?
Nina Narimanishvili
Painting - 30 x 25 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0.8 inch
$954
The good times are fleeting
Wei-Hong Ma
Painting - 80 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$1,907
Procession of Fauns and Nymphs through Flowers and Streams of Leaves
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$550 $330
Friend Lighting a Cigarette
Wang Dianyu
Painting - 70 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,571
Beneficial Shakespearian Tempest - Landing Ashore
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 100 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$550 $330
Topographie Humaine II
Olivier Furter
Painting - 60 x 92 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 36.2 x 0.8 inch
$2,019
Deux cœurs pour toi
Joseph Piermatteo
Painting - 81 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,580
Albert Einstein
Virut Panchabuse
Painting - 160 x 140 x 0.3 cm Painting - 63 x 55.1 x 0.1 inch
$13,463
Abstract Models
Marian Williams
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 0.8 inch
$2,805 $2,244
Portrait of a Man
Ihar Barkhatkou
Painting - 105 x 90 x 3 cm Painting - 41.3 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,693
Pamela Anderson baywatch
Peter Donkersloot
Painting - 120 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$4,768
Limelight - Non-Identical Twins
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 100 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$550 $330
Guitariste blues
Moise Cohen
Painting - 134 x 93 x 1 cm Painting - 52.8 x 36.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,907 $954
Witness Series
Guy Ghazanchyan
Painting - 195 x 130 x 2 cm Painting - 76.8 x 51.2 x 0.8 inch
$4,600 $3,680
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
$969
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 $1,020
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,794
Her Softness
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,683 $1,027
Inventoriage biométrique
Gopal Dagnogo
Fine Art Drawings - 220 x 220 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 86.6 x 86.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,111
Mickey Mouse Soldier
Belart Collective
Painting - 120 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$2,233
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.