Portrait Paintings
20th Century Abstract Portrait Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1950s Cubist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Expressionist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Oil Pastel
Early 19th Century English School Portrait Paintings
Glass, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Late 19th Century English School Portrait Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache
Mid-19th Century French School Portrait Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Portrait Paintings
Mixed Media, Pigment, Archival Pigment
2010s Academic Portrait Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1780s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
1920s Art Deco Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Modern Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1810s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
1960s Modern Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Oil
1940s Portrait Paintings
Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1650s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
1990s Modern Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1910s Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Oil
Early 19th Century Romantic Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Wood, Paper
1910s Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Oil
Early 19th Century English School Portrait Paintings
Glass, Watercolor
2010s Realist Portrait Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Portrait Paintings
Paper, Pastel
1870s Victorian Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Oil, Panel
Early 20th Century Realist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Pen
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 19th Century Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Modern Portrait Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Late 19th Century Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Baroque Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
16th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
1850s Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings
Oil
Late 17th Century Italian School Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Portrait Paintings for Sale on 1stDibs
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.
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A Rare Q&A with American Legend Alex Katz
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