Portrait Painting for Sale
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Juan de Pareja, copy of a Velasquez painting
Virginie Vandeputte
Painting - 30 x 40 x 3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 1.2 inch
$2,805
You can't always get what you want
Michael Viviani
Painting - 92 x 151 x 3 cm Painting - 36.2 x 59.4 x 1.2 inch
$5,834
L'orangé des fruits murs
De Welfes
Painting - 80 x 60 x 0.2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,458
The Man with the Red Ear
Alex Mitrecey
Painting - 195 x 130 x 7 cm Painting - 76.8 x 51.2 x 2.8 inch
$17,277
Bailaora volcánica 17
Eva Lefever
Painting - 70 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$4,824
Il ballo della vita
Ursula Tlusty
Painting - 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$5,049
Si No Tuvieras Miedo
Marco Battaglini
Painting - 100 x 125 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 49.2 x 2 inch
$33,657
Superhuman series 2
Lateef Olajumoke
Painting - 120 x 105 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$5,900
Visible musings
Liezl Spangenberg
Painting - 101 x 76 x 3.8 cm Painting - 39.8 x 29.9 x 1.5 inch
$5,273
Rozmyslania III
Justyna Wanat-Tenerowicz
Painting - 70 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,805
She 1 She Is Watching You
Constanza
Painting - 120 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$3,197
Juegos nunca aprehendidos
Carlos Vidal
Painting - 89 x 116 x 2 cm Painting - 35 x 45.7 x 0.8 inch
$4,072
Femme et son chat
Isabelle Desternes
Painting - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$505
Femme au balcon - ref BDNW11479
Janie Michels
Painting - 73 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$4,432
Regardez à droite, à gauche et en face
Baptista Antunes
Painting - 38 x 32 x 0.3 cm Painting - 15 x 12.6 x 0.1 inch
$2,805
Jeune fille en fleurs
Olivier de la Happy Funky Family
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
$2,693
Blue hair and my lady
Attasit Pokpong
Painting - 132 x 132 x 3.5 cm Painting - 52 x 52 x 1.4 inch
$23,560
Emigration for love
Ekaterina Shitova
Painting - 29 x 21 x 0.1 cm Painting - 11.4 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$337
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
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 $1,020
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,794
Her Softness
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,683 $1,027
The beauty of dance XII
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 49 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,907
Portrait #2. From the Portraits series
Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku
Painting - 30 x 20.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 8.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,200
L'envole I - préchauffage
Patricia Dubois
Painting - 93 x 70 x 3.5 cm Painting - 36.6 x 27.6 x 1.4 inch
$2,468
Mickey Mouse Soldier
Belart Collective
Painting - 120 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$2,233
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
$1,346
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.