Portrait Painting for Sale
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Natalya Mougenot
Painting - 70 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
£1,153
Les demoiselles
Virginia Benedicto
Painting - 73 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
£1,065
Sisters in Yellow
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 121.9 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1 inch
£2,804
Change and Growth 2
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
£1,788
Change and Growth 1
Oluwafemi Afolabi
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
£1,788
Baby Doll n149, Paco Rabane Tribute
Rachel Bergeret
Painting - 70 x 41 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 16.1 x 0.4 inch
£3,061
Generations of Love, The Joy Series: A Journey to Inner Happiness original artwork
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,260
Harmony in Blue: Finding Peace Within, The Happiness Series: Exploring Inner Joy series
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£754
Flight of Hope, The Happiness Series: Exploring Inner Joy series
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£754
Dreams by the window
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2.5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1 inch
£1,260
I'm sowing seeds
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2.5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1 inch
£905
Impermanence 03-2021
Françoise Utrel
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,774
Red-haired girl
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,198
Impermanence 09-2022
Françoise Utrel
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,774
Red Dress with Orange Shawl
Naoko Paluszak
Painting - 50.8 x 40.6 x 2 cm Painting - 20 x 16 x 0.8 inch
£772
Who Are These Angels CXLIVI
Naoko Paluszak
Painting - 61 x 45.7 x 3.8 cm Painting - 24 x 18 x 1.5 inch
£975
Sisters in Bloom, original painting by Ukrainian artist Tetiana Pchelnykova
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 100 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,020
Conversations Amongst Blooms, Gardens of Resilience series: Cultivating Hope
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 100 x 110 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 43.3 x 1 inch
£1,171
Conversation in the garden, Gardens of Resilience series: Cultivating Hope
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 100 x 110 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 43.3 x 1 inch
£1,198
My kitten , Gardens of Resilience series
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1.8 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.7 inch
£843
Dreaming possibilities
Lena Bera-Pancini
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
£621
Discovering perspectives
Lena Bera-Pancini
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
£621
Expanding reality
Lena Bera-Pancini
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
£621
From the series Ecology of soul and nature IV
Mykola Mamchur
Painting - 50 x 60 x 0.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
£1,331
Regarde moi
Francis L'Huillier
Painting - 128 x 75 x 1.5 cm Painting - 50.4 x 29.5 x 0.6 inch
£1,597
A la recherche des valeurs perdues
Ahmed Zelfani
Painting - 205 x 69 x 2.5 cm Painting - 80.7 x 27.2 x 1 inch
£4,790
Easy adventure
Natalie Shiporina
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£3,105
Muse. From the Portraits series
Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku
Painting - 140 x 140 x 0.3 cm Painting - 55.1 x 55.1 x 0.1 inch
£9,755
Faces and Colours IV (Woman Identity)
Woko Aguru
Painting - 48 x 42 x 3 cm Painting - 18.9 x 16.5 x 1.2 inch
£1,774
Amazone Big Doll, H Tribute 2024
Rachel Bergeret
Painting - 150 x 90 cm Painting - 59.1 x 35.4 inch
£14,637
Invader Marilyn urban wall
Lasveguix
Painting - 61 x 46 x 3 cm Painting - 24 x 18.1 x 1.2 inch
£1,020
Ordre et désordre
Six four two
Painting - 40 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
£621 £559
Réecrire l'histoire
Cécile Desserle
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 0.8 inch
£3,371
Feline and feathered friends
Anahit Mirijanyan
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£488
Art for your Soul 2
Anastasiia Dushak
Painting - 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£501
Endless World War
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 250 x 180 x 3 cm Painting - 98.4 x 70.9 x 1.2 inch
£4,214
Contemporary portrait - Poolside Party
Nataliya Bagatskaya
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.6 inch
£1,153
La cage de la Lumière Eblouissante et de l'Ombre Profonde
Sandra Chevrier
Painting - 102 x 76 x 5 cm Painting - 40.2 x 29.9 x 2 inch
£14,992
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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.