Portrait Painting for Sale
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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
$2,800
The First Home I Knew
Justice Mukheli
Painting - 90 x 100 cm Painting - 35.4 x 39.4 inch
$4,900 $4,165
Un peu, beaucoup, passionnément
Virginie Clement
Painting - 50 x 40 x 4 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 1.6 inch
$561 $505
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
$5,100
Community II
Felix Treadwell
Painting - 182.2 x 121.5 x 2.54 cm Painting - 71.7 x 47.8 x 1 inch
$35,000
Roots of Identity 2
Iyiola Odunayo
Painting - 121.9 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1 inch
$2,850
Girl With Crystal Earring
Kehinde Mayowa
Painting - 90.2 x 90.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 35.5 x 35.5 x 1 inch
$3,450
Drain color
Cynthia Coulombe-Bégin
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 3.8 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 1.5 inch
$1,895
Trust Your Vision
Lena Bera-Pancini
Painting - 90 x 90 x 90 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 35.4 inch
$2,132
Histoire de Guadeloupe 6
Françoise Sémiramoth
Painting - 130 x 97 x 1 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 0.4 inch
$13,463
Black and Bold 1
Loje Oluwaseun
Painting - 74.9 x 49.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 29.5 x 19.5 x 1 inch
$1,450
Inner Peace 1
Meshach Charity
Painting - 76.2 x 61 x 2.5 cm Painting - 30 x 24 x 1 inch
$1,850 $1,665
Avec vous
Jean-Joseph Sanfourche
Painting - 115 x 95 x 2 cm Painting - 45.3 x 37.4 x 0.8 inch
$6,731
Vendeur de bouées avec ballon de Barcelone
Rosario Heins
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$8,975
Alessandro Magno nº3
Davide Ricchetti
Painting - 42 x 28.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 16.5 x 11.2 x 0.2 inch
$1,010
The Albino Series IX
Éric Odartey
Painting - 76 x 76 x 3 cm Painting - 29.9 x 29.9 x 1.2 inch
$2,244
Alexandria’s Genesis
Paris Sergiou
Painting - 120 x 120 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
$1,402
Pause café
Jeannette Guichard-Bunel
Painting - 70 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$4,039
Overthink: Juste ici
Marie-Chloé Duval
Painting - 121.9 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm Painting - 48 x 36 x 1.5 inch
$2,900
Frail Soldier
Alabi Azeez
Painting - 152.4 x 106.7 x 2.5 cm Painting - 60 x 42 x 1 inch
$3,850 $3,465
This Bird is Not a Starling
Rachel Isadora
Painting - 25.4 x 43.2 x 5.1 cm Painting - 10 x 17 x 2 inch
$950
Ostende et le pantographe
Joël Kermarrec
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,468
Juan San Miguel Allende
Joe Lasker
Painting - 27.9 x 16.5 x 5.1 cm Painting - 11 x 6.5 x 2 inch
$1,950
Say cheese for the pic !
Djénina Hagenburger
Painting - 122 x 193 x 1 cm Painting - 48 x 76 x 0.4 inch
$5,385
Ayanmo (Fate)
Abiola Olabamiji
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,150 $1,935
Portrait of the Jungle King
Artak Galstyan
Painting - 160 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 63 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Les Mannequins (The Supermodels) 1
Alawaye Tope
Painting - 81.3 x 81.3 x 2.5 cm Painting - 32 x 32 x 1 inch
$1,850
Les mots bleus sont des fenêtres
Mia
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 1 inch
$7,292
Siestes short ancres marines
Pascal Astier
Painting - 60 x 120 x 2.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 47.2 x 1 inch
$2,244
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
$1,335
En attendant le jour
Xavier Jallais
Painting - 55 x 46 x 5 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 2 inch
$1,627
Woman and flower. Gazania
Ljubow Jung
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,379
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
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,794
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.