Portrait Painting for Sale
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Will You be There
Tinatin Bakhtadze
Painting - 235 x 235 x 3 cm Painting - 92.5 x 92.5 x 1.2 inch
$9,619
Profil avec main au visage
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2.5 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 1 inch
$2,829 $2,263
Musing
Bakare Abubakri-sideeq Babatunde
Painting - 106.7 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 42 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,500
Portrait Thom Yorke
Bazévian Delacapucinière
Painting - 73 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,800
Portrait black Elvis
Bazévian Delacapucinière
Painting - 73 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,800
Mujer histerica
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 82 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 32.3 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,358
Mujer sonrienteon rulos
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 82 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 32.3 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,358
Mujer sonriente
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 82 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 32.3 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,358
Mujer con dudas
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 82 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 32.3 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,358
Michel Houellebecq
Jean-Michel Lourenço
Painting - 100 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$849
Les Cyclistes Déjeunent
Christian Jodin
Painting - 70 x 50 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$560
La petite fille aux allumettes
Théo Tobiasse
Painting - 51 x 68 x 5 cm Painting - 20.1 x 26.8 x 2 inch
$39,607
Christmas tree
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 150 x 106 x 0.3 cm Painting - 59.1 x 41.7 x 0.1 inch
$2,150
Monsieur Smoking Flowers
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 109 x 86 x 0.3 cm Painting - 42.9 x 33.9 x 0.1 inch
$2,207
famille intérieur jaune
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 35 x 27 x 3 cm Painting - 13.8 x 10.6 x 1.2 inch
$339 $272
Tête noire, masque rose
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 46 x 38 x 2 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 x 0.8 inch
$509 $407
Homme dans fauteuil et enfant
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 130 x 89 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 35 x 1.2 inch
$3,395 $2,716
Frida, tu mérites un amour
Agnès Robin
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 3.8 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 1.5 inch
$1,755
esprit embrumé
Jean-Louis Mendrisse
Painting - 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$4,753
Tiger's Soul
Raphaël Laventure
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
$7,356
Petite chose # 22
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 30 x 24 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$339 $272
Petite chose # 19
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 30 x 24 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$339 $272
Seduction Series O2JH
Roger König
Painting - 200 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 78.7 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
$31,686
Seduction Series 4SF9
Roger König
Painting - 200 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 78.7 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
$31,686
Andrea Memmo. Serie Prato della Valle
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 48 x 66 x 0.2 cm Painting - 18.9 x 26 x 0.1 inch
$317
Cacciatrice di farfalle
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 36 x 33 x 0.1 cm Painting - 14.2 x 13 x 0 inch
$249
Angelo del Giudizio Universale serie Omaggio a Giusto de' Menabuoi
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 48 x 66 x 0.2 cm Painting - 18.9 x 26 x 0.1 inch
$351 $316
The Yes Sayer - Der Jasager
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 40 x 30 x 0.2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$294 $265
Nella stanza assolata
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$294 $265
Giardino segreto #1
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$147 $132
Centauromachia
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 27 x 50 x 0.4 cm Painting - 10.6 x 19.7 x 0.2 inch
$441
Autoportrait à Deauville 3
László Mester de Parajd
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
$1,811
Cavaliere e le Arpie
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$441
Attore II. Teatro Kabuki
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 42 x 37 x 1 cm Painting - 16.5 x 14.6 x 0.4 inch
$441
Mohammed Ali forever
Virginie Schroeder
Painting - 51 x 51 x 2 cm Painting - 20.1 x 20.1 x 0.8 inch
$1,358
Fluctuat Nec Mergitur
Jérémie d'Angelo
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$4,753
Mystery of Love (1)
Rakhmet Redzhepov (Ramzi)
Painting - 80 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,358
Waited flowers
Andranik Harutyunyan
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$850
Whispers of Verdance
Dasha Pogodina
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$622
VAn Gogh Sanglier
Adrien Lombardo
Painting - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$622
Jardins Romains / A day in Rome
Fabio Purino
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,471
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
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.