Portrait Painting for Sale
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Casa Désirs Divins
Chrystèle Saint-Amaux
Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
€247
No title - One of six
Atsushi Momoi
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
€1,000
Twenty Shades of Sunlight
Carlos Gamez de Francisco
Painting - 140 x 64 x 2 cm Painting - 55.1 x 25.2 x 0.8 inch
€7,600
My heart goes out...
Barbara Kieca
Painting - 110 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 43.3 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
€1,200
Flower/Boulder
Maxime Cousineau Perusse
Painting - 152.4 x 101.6 x 3.8 cm Painting - 60 x 40 x 1.5 inch
€1,710
Hatted (detras de tu mirada)
Marcelo Novo
Painting - 61 x 61 x 3.8 cm Painting - 24 x 24 x 1.5 inch
€1,596
Dreams on deck
Mathieu Questel
Painting - 65 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
€1,200 €1,080
La poupée celestial
Jaume Queralt
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
€11,400
The Birth of Venus
Jeremy Bianco
Painting - 100 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
€3,800
It_helped_me_diamond
Axel Jenny
Painting - 125 x 100 x 0.1 cm Painting - 49.2 x 39.4 x 0 inch
€2,000
Sophia Loren Pop Style
Maria De Campos
Painting - 116 x 81 x 2.5 cm Painting - 45.7 x 31.9 x 1 inch
€3,490
Journée de Printemps
Laurent Folco
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3.8 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.5 inch
€2,600
Vieille femme et son âne
Alberto Cecconi
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€875
Afrocentric Radiance
Bakare Abubakri-sideeq Babatunde
Painting - 139.7 x 124.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 55 x 49 x 1 inch
€3,288 €2,960
Envol et profondeur
Alain Beraud
Painting - 81 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
€11,500
Refracted Visage 1
Niall Pickvance
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
€2,150
French School - PS 241 Noyée dans Monet Impressionnist
Bazévian Delacapucinière
Painting - 61 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 24 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
€1,600
Woman in Blue with Headscarf
Nicolle Menegaldo
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€2,369
La guerre du feu 1
Thibault Franc
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€1,500
Frida’s Tribal Journey
Jules Holland
Painting - 120 x 90 x 2.2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0.9 inch
€5,500
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
€2,500
Qu'auriez-vous fait à sa place?
Arnaud Bauville
Painting - 160 x 110 x 3 cm Painting - 63 x 43.3 x 1.2 inch
€12,500
Preparing the pan
Dzovig Arnelian
Painting - 25.5 x 16.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 10 x 6.5 x 0.2 inch
€580 €522
Rotterdam et moi 1
Marian Williams
Painting - 130 x 97 x 2 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 0.8 inch
€2,950
Shadow on concrete
Polina Izvekova
Painting - 50 x 40 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 1.2 inch
€1,650
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
€1,500
Art is Life
Sara Chelou & Romane Joncoeur
Painting - 60 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€600
Alter Ego
Franklin Ndibam
Painting - 140 x 100.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 55.1 x 39.4 x 1 inch
€3,724 €3,351
Jeune Fille Au Chapeau
André Averianov
Painting - 50 x 60 x 3.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 1.4 inch
€2,500
War and Peace
Sebastian Picker
Painting - 100 x 240 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 94.5 x 0.4 inch
€17,000
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
€864
The tree of life
Seyran Gasparyan
Painting - 50 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
€1,161
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
€1,599
Mickey Mouse Soldier
Belart Collective
Painting - 120 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
€1,990
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.