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
Let's keep them for ourselves
Dasha Pogodina
Painting - 100 x 90 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 35.4 x 1 inch
€1,300
Crowning Glory (Beauty Within Us)
Fasalejo Tobiloba
Painting - 61 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 20 x 1 inch
€1,294
In Time series
Guy Ghazanchyan
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€1,500 €1,320
In Time series
Guy Ghazanchyan
Painting - 120 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,600 €1,408
In Time series
Guy Ghazanchyan
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€1,500 €1,320
Sous protection
Pierre Alechinsky
Painting - 25 x 35 x 1 cm Painting - 9.8 x 13.8 x 0.4 inch
€11,000
Mysterious Elegance
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€853
Lost is a Lovely Place to Find Yourself
Idorenyin Umana
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 1 inch
€1,582
The proposal (4) (after pina bausch) forbidden collage (7)
Julien Delagrange
Painting - 270 x 180 x 0.1 cm Painting - 106.3 x 70.9 x 0 inch
€9,700
Sisters in Yellow 2
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1 inch
€3,547
Sisters' Embrace, Happiness
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,845
Cultivating Hope
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,845
War By Numbers VSE
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Painting - 67.5 x 52 x 1 cm Painting - 26.6 x 20.5 x 0.4 inch
€7,900
Muntu Dance Theatre
Sandi Goodwin
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
€1,750
Hiplet Ballerinas
Sandi Goodwin
Painting - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
€1,900
Hiplet Ballerina
Sandi Goodwin
Painting - 120 x 90 x 3.5 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 1.4 inch
€2,000
Unforgettable Night
Akio Harada
Painting - 30.5 x 30.5 x 3.8 cm Painting - 12 x 12 x 1.5 inch
€1,200
Impermanence 15-2023
Françoise Utrel
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€2,000
Poussières d'étoiles 05
Théo Le Franc
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€900
Behind the Sunglasses
Narek Qochunc
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€527
Summer, sea, beach, girl
Elena Lukina
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,450
Sombras. Antonio Banderas
José Luis Pagador Ponce
Painting - 81 x 65 x 3.5 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 1.4 inch
€1,800
Apaleado
José Luis Pagador Ponce
Painting - 75 x 50 x 3.5 cm Painting - 29.5 x 19.7 x 1.4 inch
€2,000
Portrait de Marguerite d'Autriche d'après Jean Hey
Joris Ghilini
Painting - 106 x 73 x 15 cm Painting - 41.7 x 28.7 x 5.9 inch
€9,375
The Scent of a Flower: Woman and Thistle
Samvel Atasunts
Painting - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
€575
Contemplative Beauty
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 58 x 42 x 2 cm Painting - 22.8 x 16.5 x 0.8 inch
€853
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.