Portrait Painting for Sale
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Yoann Bonneville (YBA)
Painting - 90 x 90 x 4 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1.6 inch
$2,827
Blue Scarf That Binds
Omoayo George Osoba
Painting - 106.7 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 42 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,000
Bon Voyage
Omoayo George Osoba
Painting - 105.9 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 41.7 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,000
Changement de paradigme
Lela Migirov
Painting - 65 x 45 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$679
Changement de paradigme
Lela Migirov
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$679
The Wandering Musician
Sargis Zaqaryan
Painting - 40 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$650
Not A Space For One
Chinedu Chidebe
Painting - 111.8 x 111.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 44 x 44 x 1 inch
$2,000
Mona Lisa Vandal Desfragmentation
Utopia
Painting - 120 x 105 x 0.1 cm Painting - 47.2 x 41.3 x 0 inch
$905
Different Space, Same Space
Chinedu Chidebe
Painting - 111.8 x 111.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 44 x 44 x 1 inch
$2,000
Dinner and a Movie
Anthony Dunphy
Painting - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.8 cm Painting - 16 x 20 x 0.3 inch
$760
Contortion (Contorsion)
Tristan Starowicz (WICZ)
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,120
Something is happening
Yuliy Takov
Painting - 24 x 26 x 0.2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 10.2 x 0.1 inch
$769
Magical manipulation
Vladimir Kolosov
Painting - 76.2 x 121.9 x 1.9 cm Painting - 30 x 48 x 0.75 inch
$2,160
Deformed Face (Gueule Déformée)
Tristan Starowicz (WICZ)
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,120
The decision
Ricardo Fabián Bertona
Painting - 60 x 50 x 4 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 1.6 inch
$1,350
The Smoking Girl ( Double )
Esboner
Painting - 40.6 x 30.5 x 0.3 cm Painting - 16 x 12 x 0.1 inch
$1,809
Femme au regard au-dessus de son épaule
Sandra Paris
Painting - 51 x 29 x 0.2 cm Painting - 20.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$407
La patria (Homeland)
Ruben Cukier
Painting - 99.8 x 79.8 x 2 cm Painting - 39.3 x 31.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,000
Love triangle - II
Vladimir Kolosov
Painting - 55.9 x 76.2 x 0 cm Painting - 22 x 30 x 0.01 inch
$600
Violet Fever
Krzysztof Blonarowicz
Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,262
1958 Parisiens Parisians
Kam Zin Choon
Painting - 48 x 64 x 0.5 cm Painting - 18.9 x 25.2 x 0.2 inch
$1,301
1956 Dieu dans la rivière River God
Kam Zin Choon
Painting - 50 x 30 x 0.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$2,205
Portrait de Ludmilla Barta
Emile-François Chambon
Painting - 41 x 33 x 2 cm Painting - 16.1 x 13 x 0.8 inch
$1,144
Jeune femme blonde de profil
Emile-François Chambon
Painting - 35 x 27 x 0.5 cm Painting - 13.8 x 10.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,007
1966 Paris blanc La Belle parisienne White Paris The Bistro A Parisian
Jochen Michaelis
Painting - 38 x 52.5 cm Painting - 15 x 20.7 inch
$2,149
1966 White Paris Blanc Au bistro Homme à la toque d'astrakan Bistro Man with astrakan hat
Jochen Michaelis
Painting - 38 x 52.5 cm Painting - 15 x 20.7 inch
$2,205
1966 Paris Blanc Au bistro Homme à la toque d'astrakan 2 White Paris Bistro Man with Astrakan hat 2
Jochen Michaelis
Painting - 38 x 52.5 cm Painting - 15 x 20.7 inch
$2,205
1966 White Paris Blanc Portrait Au bistro Portrait In a bistro
Jochen Michaelis
Painting - 37 x 52.5 cm Painting - 14.6 x 20.7 inch
$2,205
The Night I Love You Ichijo Narumi
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$554
Thoughts Transmission between Mother and Daughter
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$554
Reflections of happiness
Daté Amouzou
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
$2,036
Discover the styles & movements
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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.