Oil 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
Esquisse Avec Une Tour
Yuriy Demiyanov
Painting - 32 x 40 x 4 cm Painting - 12.6 x 15.7 x 1.6 inch
$682
Flaques de Printemps
Yuriy Demiyanov
Painting - 35 x 55 x 4 cm Painting - 13.8 x 21.7 x 1.6 inch
$682
In Shape of Land
Vanessa Cuthbert
Painting - 49 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 19.3 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,670
DEAUVILLE LES PARASOLS, ON ARRIVE
Sophie Petetin
Painting - 41 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 16.1 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,017
Bowl with blue cloth Cuenco con trapo azul
Alberto Romero
Painting - 50 x 53 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 20.9 x 0.4 inch
$1,933
Midnight Mystics
Corinne Lisa Costello
Painting - 121 x 97 x 3 cm Painting - 47.6 x 38.2 x 1.2 inch
$6,723
Mystical Marriage #1
Corinne Lisa Costello
Painting - 121 x 97 x 3 cm Painting - 47.6 x 38.2 x 1.2 inch
$6,723
Emotional Landscape 5
Kayo Shido
Painting - 102 x 102 x 0.2 cm Painting - 40.2 x 40.2 x 0.1 inch
$6,014
DEPART POUR LA MER
Sophie Petetin
Painting - 70 x 70 x 2.5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1 inch
$1,586
Two cows and a husband
Moses Nyawanda
Painting - 56 x 44 x 0.2 cm Painting - 22 x 17.3 x 0.1 inch
$1,819
Achrafieh – Karm El Zeytoun
Dzovig Arnelian
Painting - 60 x 80 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.5 inch
$1,320
Le lapin agile
Danielle Le Bricquir
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$597
Ciel dans la Rivière
Yuriy Demiyanov
Painting - 50 x 40 x 4 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 1.6 inch
$4,547
India Ganesh taxis
Alain Bertrand
Painting - 92 x 73 x 3 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.7 x 1.2 inch
$5,684
La chasse est fermée
Willy Charps
Painting - 100 x 72 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,819
Nature morte à la pipe 2
Georges Darel
Painting - 44 x 24.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 17.3 x 9.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,152
Nature morte à la pipe
Georges Darel
Painting - 44.5 x 25 x 0.5 cm Painting - 17.5 x 9.8 x 0.2 inch
$1,152
Untitled, mix media
Roberto Fonfria
Painting - 61 x 45.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 17.91 x 1 inch
$2,000
Untitled XII
Alejandra Quintanilla
Painting - 90 x 120 x 0.3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
$3,000
Growing space IV
Gergana Tabakova
Painting - 100 x 120 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
$2,387
Papaver Rhoeas
Kerstin Paillard
Painting - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
$4,206
L'Oiseau des Îles et les fleurs
Paul Mathey
Painting - 28.5 x 35 x 2 cm Painting - 11.2 x 13.8 x 0.8 inch
$1,385
Vue sur la montagne
Paul Mathey
Painting - 55 x 65 x 0.3 cm Painting - 21.7 x 25.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,432
Sulla Doglia Del Cuore
Pasquale Di Fazio
Painting - 60 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
$6,593
Untitled 20 From the Mexican Ry?an-ji Series
Francisco Larios
Painting - 24.1 x 24.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 9.5 x 9.5 x 1 inch
$2,200
Cafetière orange et or
Christian Jodin
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$449
Tour Eiffel brumeuse
Claude Schürr
Painting - 92 x 73 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.7 x 1 inch
$8,185
Abstract Composition
Nina Ruseva
Painting - 85 x 104 x 4 cm Painting - 33.5 x 40.9 x 1.6 inch
$3,183
Ainsi de Suite 3
Annick Bouvattier
Painting - 100 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$5,570
Moulin en Provence
François Gos
Painting - 54 x 65.5 x 2 cm Painting - 21.3 x 25.8 x 0.8 inch
$1,513
Le Port-Canto fleuri, Cannes
Claude Schürr
Painting - 54 x 65 x 2.5 cm Painting - 21.3 x 25.6 x 1 inch
$5,343
Golden light
Khrystyna Kozyuk
Painting - 121.9 x 139.7 x 3.8 cm Painting - 48 x 55 x 1.5 inch
$2,500
Fiery sunflowers
Alexander Shandor
Painting - 72 x 52 x 0.2 cm Painting - 28.3 x 20.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,800
Chemin sous-bois
Alexis Louis Roche
Painting - 33.5 x 41 x 2 cm Painting - 13.2 x 16.1 x 0.8 inch
$1,676
Bouquet de fleurs, tulipes, lilas et pivoines
Alexis Louis Roche
Painting - 55 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$1,106
Double Portrait 2
Anastas Kamburov
Painting - 81 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
$7,957
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
Oil Painting for Sale
Oil painting is a type of paint which involves mixing crushed color pigments usually with linseed oil, although poppy seed oil can also be used. The support on which it is painted must be covered with a primer beforehand so that the layer of paint can adhere to the support; an additional step which is crucial to the creative process and also means that it can be adapted to many types of surfaces.
It was during the Middle Ages that oil painting first appeared and began to be developed in the Western world. The discovery of oil painting is often attributed to the Flemish painter, Jan Van Eyck who had been experimenting with various mixtures. With this new painting technique, his works benefited from new transparency effects and a new type of aesthetic was born. His approach was copied and later shared more widely by other primitive Flemish painters. Oil painting replaced the tempera technique, which uses egg as a binder.
Similarly, the wood on which artists painted was replaced by linen canvas, installed on a frame from the 15th century onwards and later placed on an easel. Although it was well-liked by painters, this medium had its drawbacks; its components were toxic and its preparation required a great amount of artisan savoir-faire in the studio. Despite this, it became closely linked to the visual arts and and was hugely popularised during the Renaissance thanks to the Venetian painters such as Titian, followed closely by the Flemish, including Rubens, before it reached the Netherlands who made it their own, with Rembrandt leading the way.
The 19th and 20th centuries saw oil painting became the number one choice and the preferred medium for for modern times. The mixture no longer had to be prepared by artists in the studio; industrialization had made things easier and the paint came pre-prepared, packaged in tubes. The tin tube was commercialized in France in 1840 and revolutionised the history of art by encouraging the Impressionists to take their brushes and paints outside and paint en plein air. It would slowly be overtaken by acrylic paint a century later which simplified things even further as it was dried faster.
An oil painting canvas also implies that the painter must respect the fat-over-lean principle, meaning that a colors with high oil content (fat) should be applied over layers of paint with lower oil content (lean) to ensure that the painting will last longer and to prevent cracking. Oil painting remains a widely used method and numerous artworks are still made using this technique.
Contemporary artists still master oil painting but sometimes avoid working with it in the same traditional ways of the 20th century. The canvas is often not prepared so that its texture can be seen under the layer of paint, as certain abstract painters have done. Jackson Pollock for example used oil painting but did not glaze his works. He didn't even truly paint his canvases as he used a dripping technique; by shaking his brush he created splashes of paint over the canvas…
On Artsper, explore contemporary paintings by well-known artists including Arman, Salvador Dali and Robert Combas.
Oil painting allows for very efficient mixing of colors and tones. Due to its long drying time, it is possible to alter an oil painting days after the paint has been applied. Oil painting also allows for precision and a range of visual effects.
Oil paint and acrylic paint are produced using different materials. While oil painting consists of pigments suspended in drying oils, acrylic paint is water-based. The main difference between the two is that acrylic paints can be thinned down with water, and dry faster than oil paints.
It is easier to correct mistakes when working in oil paint as they are more opaque than watercolors and can be easily scraped off a surface.