Mexican Silver Mosaic Ring
Late 20th Century Native American Collectible Jewelry
Sterling Silver
2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings
Oil, Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings
Oil, Canvas, Acrylic
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Charcoal
Mid-20th Century Mexican Organic Modern Barware
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Wood
Vintage 1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Sheffield and Silverplate
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Mexican Post-Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1980s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Silver Plate, Sterling Silver, Copper
Vintage 1940s Mexican Folk Art Sterling Silver
Stone, Sterling Silver
2010s Mexican Arts and Crafts Chairs
Nylon, Papercord, Hardwood
Artist Comments
Artist Jessica JH Roller crafts a visual tale of a playful interaction between creatures of the night. "Long before the break of day, a bat enters a home, awake...
21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Collectible Jewelry
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1970s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal, Silver Plate
Antique 19th Century Paintings
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Polyester
Antique Early 18th Century Italian Paintings
Canvas, Paint
Mid-20th Century Mexican Decorative Boxes
Silver Plate
Vintage 1960s Mexican Post-Modern Paintings
Masonite
Recent Sales
2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings
Copper
2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings
Oil
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Panel
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Panel, Oil
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Gold Leaf
2010s Realist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Gold Leaf
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.