Sir Henry Raeburn On Sale
18th Century Portrait Paintings
Oil
Early 1800s Realist Portrait Paintings
Oil
People Also Browsed
Early 20th Century Russian Picture Frames
Diamond, Silver, Enamel
Vintage 1980s Italian Art Nouveau Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XV Living Room Sets
Silk, Wood
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Antique 19th Century British Georgian Sofas
Leather, Hardwood
18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Antique Late 18th Century Italian Empire Console Tables
Marble, Gold Leaf
Early 20th Century Dinner Plates
Porcelain
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Antique 19th Century English Neoclassical Vases
Ceramic, Porcelain
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Tang Antiquities
Pottery
Antique 19th Century French Napoleon III Crystal Serveware
Crystal, Ormolu
Late 20th Century Italian Baroque Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Antique 19th Century English Victorian Jewelry Boxes
Velvet, Glass, Wood
Antique 19th Century English Regency Sheffield and Silverplate
Sheffield Plate
Finding the Right portrait-paintings for You
An elegant and sophisticated decorative touch in any living space, portrait paintings have remained popular throughout the years and are widely loved pieces of art for display in many homes today.
Portrait paintings are at least as old as ancient Egypt, where realistic, lifelike depictions of the recently deceased — commonly known as “mummy portraits” — were painted on wooden panels and affixed to mummies as part of the burial tradition.
For centuries, painters have used portraiture as a means of expressing a subject’s nobility, societal status and authority. Portraits were given as gifts in Renaissance Europe, and a portrait artist might have been commissioned to help mark a significant occasion such as a wedding or a promotion to high office. Prior to the advent of photography, which eventually replaced painted portraits as a quicker and more efficient way of capturing a person’s essence, the subject of a portrait had to sit for hours until the painter had finished. And during the 18th century in particular, if an artist commissioned for a portrait struggled with how to adequately memorialize and capture a subject’s likeness, sometimes a portrait painting wasn’t completed for up to a year.
Whether it’s part of the gallery-style approach to your living-room or dining-room walls or merely inspiration as you devise an eye-grabbing color scheme in your home, a portrait painting is a timeless decorative object for any interior. A landscape painting or sculpture might give you the kind of insight into a specific region of the world or a different culture that you can ascertain only through art. Similarly, when you take the time to learn about the subject of a portrait painting that you bring into your home — the sitter’s history, the relationship between the sitter and the artist should one exist, the story of how the portrait came to be — that work can become intensely personal in addition to its place as an object for an art-hungry corner of your apartment or house.
On 1stDibs, visit a vast collection of famous portrait paintings or works by emerging artists. Search by medium to find the right portrait paintings for your home in oil paint, synthetic resin paint and more. Find portrait paintings in a variety of styles, too, including contemporary, Impressionist and Pop art, or search by artist to find unique works created by painters such as Mark Beard, Steve Kaufman and Montse Valdés.