Portrait 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
Fumatore d'arte
Giorgio A.F. Valentini
Painting - 80 x 80 x 10 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 3.9 inch
$792
Who Are These Angels CXLIII
Naoko Paluszak
Painting - 40.6 x 30.5 x 3.8 cm Painting - 16 x 12 x 1.5 inch
$850
Château Rouge
Enfant Précoce / Francis Essoua Kalu
Painting - 97 x 146 x 2 cm Painting - 38.2 x 57.5 x 0.8 inch
$11,316
Citoyen du monde
Enfant Précoce / Francis Essoua Kalu
Painting - 200 x 230 x 2 cm Painting - 78.7 x 90.6 x 0.8 inch
$22,972
Paul Enfant
Enfant Précoce / Francis Essoua Kalu
Painting - 220 x 200 x 2 cm Painting - 86.6 x 78.7 x 0.8 inch
$22,972
Esua Esua a yabe, Essoua Essoua est née
Enfant Précoce / Francis Essoua Kalu
Painting - 245 x 293 x 2 cm Painting - 96.5 x 115.4 x 0.8 inch
$27,159
Riding-Towards-Happiness-III
Sophia Oshodin
Painting - 100 x 100 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 2 inch
$4,753
In The Garden Of a Moonlight
Delyafruz Bagirova
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,252
Come and talk to me
Mariusz Makula
Painting - 87.4 x 100.1 x 2.5 cm Painting - 34.4 x 39.4 x 1 inch
$700
Easy adventure
Natalie Shiporina
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$3,961
Atinuke (Precious From Birth)
Daniel Owoeye
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
$3,250
Give Me the Truth, Not Roses
Idorenyin Umana
Painting - 76.2 x 101.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 30 x 40 x 1 inch
$1,650
Senza titolo. From the Portraits series
Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku
Painting - 48 x 33 x 0.3 cm Painting - 18.9 x 13 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Love Must Reciprocate
Oyeleye Feranmi
Painting - 91.4 x 61 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 24 x 1 inch
$2,000
Contemporary portrait Entomological Collection
Nataliya Bagatskaya
Painting - 80 x 60 x 1.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.6 inch
$1,471
An Autumn Song Of Love
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 100 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,603
Contemporary portrait Between You and Me
Nataliya Bagatskaya
Painting - 80 x 55 x 1.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 21.7 x 0.6 inch
$1,471
Texture of Identity (Beauty Within Us)
Fasalejo Tobiloba
Painting - 61 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 24 x 20 x 1 inch
$1,350
Fellow Feeling
Olaosun Oluwapelumi
Painting - 116.8 x 116.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 46 x 46 x 1 inch
$4,099
Peace and Tranquility 2
Joshua Salami
Painting - 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 36 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,799
When We Were Young
Olaosun Oluwapelumi
Painting - 63.5 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Painting - 25 x 20 x 1 inch
$1,450
Baby Doll, Chanel Tribute
Rachel Bergeret
Painting - 70 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$3,904
Agbeke Spotted Again
Adewuyi Theophilus
Painting - 124.5 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 49 x 36 x 1 inch
$3,299
Roots of Identity 2
Iyiola Odunayo
Painting - 121.9 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1 inch
$2,850
Khokhloma (Le Garçon Doré)
Svetlana Maksimenko
Painting - 40 x 30 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$583
II (two) Imperfect Imperfections
Makama John
Painting - 101.6 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,000
Intimidade (Triptych)
Ritchelly Oliveira
Painting - 100 x 180 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 70.9 x 0.8 inch
$23,312
Deus é Um Sentimento
Ritchelly Oliveira
Painting - 150 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 59.1 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
$16,974
The space between two seconds
Ritchelly Oliveira
Painting - 243 x 192 x 3 cm Painting - 95.7 x 75.6 x 1.2 inch
$27,725
This may come as surprise but I miss you
Ritchelly Oliveira
Painting - 186 x 146 x 3 cm Painting - 73.2 x 57.5 x 1.2 inch
$20,754
The blue in your love
Ritchelly Oliveira
Painting - 186 x 146 x 3 cm Painting - 73.2 x 57.5 x 1.2 inch
$20,754
Wounded Birds
Ritchelly Oliveira
Painting - 186 x 141 x 3 cm Painting - 73.2 x 55.5 x 1.2 inch
$20,754
Circle of Trust 2
Iyiola Odunayo
Painting - 101.6 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,000
Poisson à l'honneur
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 27 x 22 x 2 cm Painting - 10.6 x 8.7 x 0.8 inch
$328
Circle of Trust 1
Iyiola Odunayo
Painting - 101.6 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 36 x 1 inch
$2,000
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.