Portrait

Sadness, melancholy and gloom have found an outlet in artists throughout history and in the depiction of figurative art. Through artists, humanity and their emotional and physical states are portrayed to be viewed and related to. The instant recognition of such a grave subject also plagues human history itself, thus carving out its own rightful spot amongst the history of art movements. In Edgar Degas' 1875 painting L'Absinthe, where viewers see a portrait of a young woman solemnly contemplating her situation, disengaged from their gaze, her surroundings, maybe even from herself. 

Dark hues and colors define somber portrait painting and can highlight the cause of such sadness, whether that be the subject's emotional state or a greater rendering of the world's expanse and the human existence within it. Existential or not, the traits of somber artwork can be found in our own collection of portraits on Artsper. The portraiture work of Nicolas Fropo de Habart works the body in all its dimensions to create an absolute feeling of vastness while Antoine Stevens also depicts wandering souls in his dimmed portraiture. But given the nature of humanity, somber depictions of the figure are not entirely unexpected…


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Painting, The Boy, Ya-Wei Li

Ya-Wei Li

Painting . 69.5 x 49.5 x 4 cm Painting . 27.4 x 19.5 x 1.6 inch

€1,800

Painting, Portrait No 94, Renjie Gao

Renjie Gao

Painting . 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting . 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch

€1,200

Fine Art Drawings, Protection sociale, Julien Cuny

Julien Cuny

Fine Art Drawings . 105 x 90 x 4 cm Fine Art Drawings . 41.3 x 35.4 x 1.6 inch

€450

Painting, Portrait, Antonio Feltrinelli

Antonio Feltrinelli

Painting . 70.5 x 51 x 1 cm Painting . 27.8 x 20.1 x 0.4 inch

€8,000

Painting, En cuisine, David Jamin

David Jamin

Painting . 61 x 50 x 2 cm Painting . 24 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch

€1,380

Painting, Loss, Elizabeth Becker

Elizabeth Becker

Painting . 61 x 45.7 cm Painting . 24 x 18 inch

€391

Painting, In the Field, Ilia Balavadze

Ilia Balavadze

Painting . 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting . 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch

€950

Painting, Heroine, Eyitayo Alagbe

Eyitayo Alagbe

Painting . 91.4 x 61 x 2.5 cm Painting . 36 x 24 x 1 inch

€2,271

Painting, Flash, Nawel Aubert

Nawel Aubert

Painting . 61 x 50 x 2.5 cm Painting . 24 x 19.7 x 1 inch

€500

Painting, Hellebores, Elizabeth Becker

Elizabeth Becker

Painting . 61 x 55.9 x 0.3 cm Painting . 24 x 22 x 0.1 inch

€572

Painting, Poursuite, Zwy Milshtein

Zwy Milshtein

Painting . 56 x 76 x 0.1 cm Painting . 22 x 29.9 x 0 inch

€2,400

Print, Code 2014, Thierry Carrier

Thierry Carrier

Print . 80 x 60 cm Print . 31.5 x 23.6 inch

€500 €450

Fine Art Drawings, Le Vicomte, Guillaume Piot

Guillaume Piot

Fine Art Drawings . 50 x 65 cm Fine Art Drawings . 19.7 x 25.6 inch

€1,500

Print, Sorores, Ger Doornink

Ger Doornink

Print . 87 x 65.8 cm Print . 34.3 x 25.9 inch

€980

Painting, Portrait, Antonio Feltrinelli

Antonio Feltrinelli

Painting . 80 x 70 x 3 cm Painting . 31.5 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch

€8,200

Painting, The Phenomenon, Ya-Wei Li

Ya-Wei Li

Painting . 55 x 45 x 4 cm Painting . 21.7 x 17.7 x 1.6 inch

€2,000

Photography, El Dandy, James Sparshatt

James Sparshatt

Photography . 75 x 55 x 1 cm Photography . 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.4 inch

€2,945

Photography, DisSimuLaTiO, Louis Blanc

Louis Blanc

Photography . 70 x 70 x 1 cm Photography . 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch

€2,250