Portrait Painting for Sale
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Our fearless mothers, who bathed in the shadows
Massoud Hayoun
Painting - 61 x 91 x 5 cm Painting - 24 x 35.8 x 2 inch
£3,311
Angel of Sweetness - Tenderness
Alexandre Abyla
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1 inch
£9,397
Evening Serenade at the Jazz Café
Ruzanna Melqumyan
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£539
Cavalier avec un glaive sur canapé
Victorien Bazo
Painting - 90 x 70 x 5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 2 inch
£2,864
Le vieux Korodouga 1
Amadou Opa Bathily
Painting - 118 x 130 x 5 cm Painting - 46.5 x 51.2 x 2 inch
£3,401
In Her Prime
Ogunleke Festus Abiodun
Painting - 101.6 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 30 x 1 inch
£1,286
All is not what it seems
Jean-Luc Curabet
Painting - 180 x 120 x 1 cm Painting - 70.9 x 47.2 x 0.4 inch
£6,265
Femme au scooter
Bertrand de Visme
Painting - 65 x 50 x 1 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
£1,074
Poetic Portrait III
Naoko Paluszak
Painting - 76.2 x 61 x 3.8 cm Painting - 30 x 24 x 1.5 inch
£1,535
Once Given a White Rose 1
Agbalaya Abdulahi Opeyemi
Painting - 33 x 25.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 13 x 10 x 1 inch
£539
In the time of dreaming
Francesca Miotto
Painting - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
£1,074
Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius II
Reinar Foreman
Painting - 150 x 120 x 1 cm Painting - 59.1 x 47.2 x 0.4 inch
£6,265
Je t'aime moi non plus!
Babeth Puech
Painting - 50 x 100 x 3.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
£967
Il lago di Castreccioni (1)
Vassilij Levi
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£1,342
Femme au turban jaune
E. Rosselli
Painting - 55.4 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.8 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
£1,252
Hôtel Majestic 24
Frédéric Batard
Painting - 115.5 x 80.5 x 2.5 cm Painting - 45.5 x 31.7 x 1 inch
£1,691
De guerre lasse
Sylvie Julkowski-Egard
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£1,342
Masquerade of emotions
Aram Sevoyan
Painting - 90 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£1,659
Pêcheur
Frederick Reginald Donat
Painting - 47.5 x 26 x 0.5 cm Painting - 18.7 x 10.2 x 0.2 inch
£1,306
Jeune femme au châle et panier de fleures
L. Rubia
Painting - 44 x 33.5 x 1 cm Painting - 17.3 x 13.2 x 0.4 inch
£1,151
Siegfried in "Swan Lake" with Typha Latifolia
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 100 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
£439 £263
Rêver à la lune
Christine Desplanque
Painting - 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£707
Keith Dog
Raphaël Federici (ParisSketchCulture)
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
£3,756
Les improbables
Isabelle Peirone
Painting - 100 x 73 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.7 x 1 inch
£1,790
Silence of being
Mayra AleJandra Lifischtz
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
£996
Intimate Offerings
Genevieve Cohn
Painting - 60.96 x 45.72 x 2.54 cm Painting - 24 x 18 x 1 inch
£2,074
Like Basquiat in the Midst
Adewuyi Theophilus
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
£2,365
Picasso 3
Giorgio A.F. Valentini
Painting - 100 x 100 x 7 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 2.8 inch
£1,342
Tombstone for Doc (Neapolitan)
Jay Hanscom
Painting - 92 x 31 x 6 cm Painting - 36.2 x 12.2 x 2.4 inch
£810
Il était une fois
Alain Vintenon
Painting - 53.5 x 53.5 x 4 cm Painting - 21.1 x 21.1 x 1.6 inch
£3,878
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
Diamant Noir
Sinden Collier
Photography - 51 x 41 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
£1,432
Passeur de brise
Pascal Billard
Sculpture - 78 x 45 x 30 cm Sculpture - 30.7 x 17.7 x 11.8 inch
£1,325
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
£1,431 £1,289
Enchanting Elegance
Samson Adetunji
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 1 inch
£1,867
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.