Portrait Painting for Sale
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Sunlight. Diptych.
Ljubow Jung
Painting - 50 x 100 x 1.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 39.4 x 0.6 inch
$1,032
Nostalgia for the sea
Ljubow Jung
Painting - 50 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
$746
Le Femme aux yeux bleus - série portrait de femme
Jean-Claude Mège
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
$3,371
Family Wax n°38
Stéphanie Calemard
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,247
Vieille femme au panier de pommes
Alberto Cecconi
Painting - 70.5 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.8 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$941
Vieille homme à la pipe
Alberto Cecconi
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$941
Jeune femme à la lecture
Percival Pernet
Painting - 73 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$895
Jon Kortajarena and Luke Evans in New York City
Manuel Santelices
Painting - 22.9 x 30.5 x 0.3 cm Painting - 9 x 12 x 0.1 inch
$500
Charlotte Casiraghi in Vanity Fair 'One of a Kind Fashion Painting'
Manuel Santelices
Painting - 30.5 x 22.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 12 x 9 x 0.1 inch
$500
Halston Halstonettes
Manuel Santelices
Painting - 73.7 x 83.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 29 x 33 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Valentino hat fall
Manuel Santelices
Painting - 30.5 x 22.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 12 x 9 x 0.1 inch
$500
La jeune fille et ma mouette
Timothy Archer
Painting - 110 x 77 x 0.1 cm Painting - 43.3 x 30.3 x 0 inch
$4,270
Le dernier rituel 7
Yoann Merienne
Painting - 180 x 130 x 2 cm Painting - 70.9 x 51.2 x 0.8 inch
$11,237
Les Marinières Charentaises
Aimée De Courtozé
Painting - 20 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
$242
Diversité II : Blondie Zaster
Ludivine G
Painting - 81 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,365
Spellbound
Anastasiia Danilenko
Painting - 109.2 x 88.9 x 0.8 cm Painting - 43 x 35 x 0.3 inch
$4,550
La fille aux cheveux rouges
Aimée De Courtozé
Painting - 20 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
$315
Django Reinhardt
Peter Donkersloot
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$3,652
Serie geisha 00069
Josep Pozo
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
$2,023
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
$843
L'enfant & la Simca 1000 / Child with a car
Fabio Purino
Painting - 80 x 80 x 4.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.8 inch
$843
Every Face Has a story (20)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (19)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (18)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (17)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (15)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (13)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (10)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (9)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (8)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (7)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (4)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Every Face Has a story (2)
Ghylan Safadi
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,500
Les chemins de la tendresse
Timothy Archer
Painting - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$4,719
Hotel Normandie, diptyque
Michèle Kaus
Painting - 120 x 120 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
$4,045
Chateau hanté diptyque 1
Vince Bank
Painting - 80 x 60 x 0.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,348
Swaying to the Music
Anthony Dunphy
Painting - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.8 cm Painting - 20 x 16 x 0.3 inch
$760
Holding The Haze Line
Amy Bernays
Painting - 30.5 x 40.6 x 0.3 cm Painting - 12 x 16 x 0.1 inch
$750
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
$1,798
The tree of life
Seyran Gasparyan
Painting - 50 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,200
Passeur de brise
Pascal Billard
Sculpture - 78 x 45 x 30 cm Sculpture - 30.7 x 17.7 x 11.8 inch
$1,663
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
$1,797 $1,618
Enchanting Elegance
Samson Adetunji
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 1 inch
$2,250
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.