Skip to main content

Portrait Paintings

2
to
52
246
98
114
31
230
93
60
88
59
41
68
131
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
4,103
1,082
807
613
509
501
467
365
127
104
24
23
312
207
149
118
80
72
69
60
41
30
18
16
11
10
10
8
8
8
8
8
1
76
310
2
3
9
14
16
9
5
16
13
12
10
9
372
285
221
204
86
Portrait Paintings For Sale
Style: Surrealist
Style: Photorealist
"Shadow Self", Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Shadow Self" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts a feminine face with blue lipstick fading into the darkness of spa...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"Float Away from This Land", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Pegah Samaie's (CA based) "Float Away from This Land" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a woman cradling an origami boat as other origami...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"THE DARK SIDE", surrealist oil painting, duality, myth, battle, war, beast, sun
Located in Toronto, Ontario
"THE DARK SIDE", 2017, is a surrealist oil painting on canvas by artist Tslil Tsemet, and measures 36x59". Duality and the conflict it creates rush to col...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait Magenta - Hyperrealistic Figurative Contemporary Oil Painting on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Combining photorealistic oil painting on canvas with the illusion of computer-rendered graphics, Jose Carlos Zubiaur’s original artworks transcend the depth of a hyperrealistic three...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Nefertiti", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Adrienne Stein's "Nefertiti" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a Black woman moving her dark tresses from her face with an orange background. About the artist: Ad...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Linen

"CHILDHOOD MEMORIES I", oil painting, memory, cat lactation, fantasy, innocence
Located in Toronto, Ontario
"CHILDHOOD MEMORIES I", 2014, is an oil painting on canvas by artist Tslil Tsemet, and measures 47x62". Characteristic of the artist's best work, it featu...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Flight II. Amy Johnson. Surrealistic portrait of pioneering British aviator
By Tom Adams
Located in Segovia, ES
Amy Johnson CBE: Ordre de l'Empire britannique (1903-1941) was one of the most influential and inspirational woman of the twentieth century. She was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930 and set a string of other records throughout her career. Even The Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, had been sufficiently impressed by Amy's achievement in flying solo to Australia. Althought Christie didn't name her directly, it was clearly Amy that her character was referring to in the novel « Peril at End House ». The book features Christie's famous character Hercule Poirot. In this painting Tom Adams use the technique of collage. Dimension with frame 89 cm H x 102 cm W x 7 cm D Dimension without frame 64 cm H x 87 cm W About the artist: Thomas Barclay Adams was born in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A. to a family of distinguished architects and planners. He was trained at the Chelsea School of Art and Goldsmith's College between 1946-1950. In 1949 he received a National Diploma of Painting. Between 1953-60 Adams illustrated natural and Regimental history pages for Eagle and natural history features for Eagle, Girl and Swift. In 1958 he founded Adams Design Associates with Anna and Andy Garnett, where he produced large murals in the then-new medium of laminated plastic for various firms such as The Royal Bank of Scotland, Chartered Bank, Aspro Nicholas and Airscrew Jiewood. In 1960 Adams Design Associates became DANAD Designs with a group of architects and designers. In 1965 Adams joined his father, the late James W.R. Adams OBE, eminent town planner and landscape architect, who was planning and design consultant to the Poster Advertising Planning Committee, for whom he helped produce a book: "Posters Look to the Future". He mounted an exhibition at the Tea Center in Regent Street opened by Sir Hugh Casson in 1966. During this period, Adams met Virgil Pomfret and joined his artists' agency. Apart from a few gaps when pursuing other activities (like running art galleries), Adams has been with Pomfret ever since. With Virgil's representation, Adams began a career as a book cover illustrator, most notably for the early John Fowles' novels The Collector, The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman (Cape) and the now famous paperpack covers for Agatha Christie (Collins UK and Simon & Schuster USA). This period covered 1963-1975. A book on these cover paintings, with commentary by Julian Symons and an introduction by John Fowles was published in 1981 by Dragons World. Adams has won various awards for illustration, notably the American Society of Illustrators, The American Art Directors Association, and The Design and Art Directors Association, UK. In 1967 Adams opened the Fulham Gallery, which not only gave first exhibitions of some now famous artists, but was for several years the center of the late '60's phenomenon - the poetry print. With C.Day-Lewis (the Poet Laureate) and artist Joseph Herman and John Piper, Adams produced the investiture print for the Prince of Wales. Adams also designed posters for Mark Boyle's light shows (The Sensual Laboratory), going on tour with The Jimmy Hendrix Experience and The Soft Machine. His connection with the modern world of rock music continued when he met Lou Reed, an admirer of his Christie and Raymond Chandler covers. Reed asked Adams to design the cover for his first UK solo album. As a result of this friendship with Lou Reed, Andy Warhol offered to sponsor an exhibition of Tom's work in New York. Adams did eventually work in the States in the early 70's where he was asked by Marshall Arisman to teach at the New York Central School of Art. Around this time, having completed a private commission to paint a portrait of Benjamin Britten...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Marine Blue" Oil painting 55" x 39" inch by Yousra Hafad
Located in Culver City, CA
"Marine Blue" Oil painting 55" x 39" inch by Yousra Hafad * Due to the Ministry of Culture policy + COVID situation, handling time (paperwork) may ta...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Luminous, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Luminous" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a feminine form in a white dress with delicate white butterflies draw...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"Night Bloom, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Night Bloom" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a feminine form in profile with a full moon behind her and white M...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"Their Song Welcomed the Night, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Their Song Welcomed the Night" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a feminine form in ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Nature Girl, colorful surrealist bird woman painting
Located in Brooklyn, NY
colorful surrealist image of bird woman *ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoki...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Claire - Original Large Scale Silver Sally K Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
As your gaze lingers on one of Sally K’s paintings, you notice how Sally’s brush strokes add playfulness and life to the canvas, incorporating unexpected images and shapes of flowers, or abstract color combinations to convey the vibrant beauty of a woman’s hair. Sally K was born in Ohio following her family’s emigration from Lebanon. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Saudi Arabia, where she stayed until she was 14. Sally then attended high school and college in Beirut, where she graduated with a BA in Fine Arts with distinction from the Lebanese American University of Beirut. In 2013, Sally and her family moved back to the United States and she now works out of her studio in California. This unique 40 inch high by 66 inch wide painting...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Silver

"Nightfall, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Nightfall" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a feminine form in blue cradling a smal...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"A Little Longer, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Karen Offutt's "A Little Longer" is an original, handmade painting that depicts a feminine figure, in sequined green clothing, wearing a black face mask...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"The Unicorn's Garden, " Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Rhonda Libbey's "The Unicorn's Garden" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a grey unicorn in a lush garden of cat faced flowers and rollin...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

"Last Night" Oil Painting 43"x39" inch by Yousra Hafad
Located in Culver City, CA
"Last Night" Oil Painting 43"x39" inch by Yousra Hafad Yousra Hafad is a teacher at the Faculty of Art Education in her native Luxor. Her paintings refl...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Sea and Stars", Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Sea and Stars" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts an African American face and a Caucasian face transposed over th...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

MEJOR SOLAS
Located in Los Angeles, CA
"MEJOR SOLAS" OIL AND ACRILIC ON CANVAS SIGNED AND DATED 2010 EXHIBITED MUSEO DEL BANCO CENTRAL DE COSTA RICA 47.5 X 59 INCHES Sofía Ruiz was born in ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

"Don't Say it Outloud", Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Don't Say it Outloud" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts a feminine face surrounded by darkness, gently holding an...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"Pocket Full of Dreams", Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Pocket Full of Dreams" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts a feminine figure surrounded by darkness, gently holding...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

UNTITLED
Located in Los Angeles, CA
"UNTITLED" OIL AND ACRILIC ON CANVAS SIGNED 35.5 X 27.5 INCHES Sofía Ruiz was born in 1982. What she expresses through her paintings has to do with whe...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

"Beacon" Figurative Narrative "Being Human" vs "Human Being"
Located in San Antonio, TX
Samuel Wilson (Born 1986) San Antonio, TX Image Size: 24 x 60 Medium: Oil "Beacon" When you see them in person you will say UNBELIEVEABLE. From his seri...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Viewing The Scream
Located in Boca Raton, FL
One cannot appreciate this painting on a computer screen; in real life, it is absolutely amazing. Because you cannot appreciate it on a computer screen, our gallery has a unique policy. When purchasing from us, the buyer has sixty days to determine if they want to keep the artwork. If not, the buyer returns the piece to us for full refund, and we pay the shipping both ways! A collector should consider several factors when deciding from whom to purchase artwork online. Check the location of the seller. When one buys from a foreign seller, one also has to consider the problems of getting the piece through Customs. There are often delays and considerable fees to pay in order to import the item. When purchasing from us, we ship the same day and you receive it via FedEx the next day, no problems or hassles. When one purchases from an auction house, one pays a buyer’s premium of anywhere from 23% to 28% over the “hammer price”. So when one “wins” an auction for $20,000, the actual price paid is more like $25,000. By contrast, when purchasing from us, the price agreed to is the price paid by the buyer, no hidden fees. Secondly, when one purchases from an auction house, the buyer pays the packing and shipping fee, which are usually exorbitant. By contrast, when purchasing from us, the price includes packing and shipping. Thirdly, when one purchases from an auction house, the sale is final. If one receives the piece and is not 100% satisfied with it, there is nothing the buyer can do about it. They are stuck with it. By contrast, when purchasing from us, the buyer has sixty days to determine if they want to keep it. If not, the buyer returns to piece to us for full refund, and we pay the shipping both ways. About Gerard Boersma Gerard Boersma (Harlingen, 1 August 1976) is a Dutch painter in Northern Realism. His work is characterized by a very fine technique and is comparable to that of his great-uncle Jopie Huisman...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Realist Leopard Portrait Wild Cat Painting from British Wildlife Tiger Artist
By Pip McGarry
Located in Preston, GB
Realist Leopard Portrait Wild Cat Painting from British Wildlife Tiger Artist. The vivid realism of the hairs & whiskers coupled with the intensity of the leopard's eyes make this pa...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Paint, Cotton Canvas

"Gills" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Joshua Lawyer's (US based) "Gills" is an oil painting that depicts a figure with her face in profile with an air bubble escaping the gills on her neck
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

"Ember" Acrylic painting
Located in Denver, CO
Julio Labra's "Ember" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a feminine figure in red with her many arms and hands of orange reaching into the nighttime sky like a flame ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

"Trace" Oil painting 43"x39"inch by Yousra Hafad
Located in Culver City, CA
"Mysterious" Oil painting 47"x35"in. by Yousra Hafad * Due to the Ministry of Culture policy + COVID situation, handling time (paperwork) may take up to...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Beak" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Joshua Lawyer's (US based) "Beak" is an oil painting that depicts a figure with her face in profile with a yellow triangle that resembles a beak.
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

"We the People" Figurative Narrative "Being Human" vs "Human Being"
Located in San Antonio, TX
Samuel Wilson (Born 1986) San Antonio, TX Image Size: 30 x 24 Medium: Oil on Board "WE THE PEOPLE" When you see them in person you will say UNBELIEVEABL...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Transcendence" Figurative Narrative "Being Human" vs "Human Being"
Located in San Antonio, TX
Samuel Wilson (Born 1986) San Antonio, TX Image Size: 24 x 48 Medium: Oil on Canvas "Transcendence" When you see them in person you will say UNBELIEVEAB...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Critics in a red cloud
Located in Miami, FL
Signed lower right . gilt frame some minor surface grime other than that is present very well with strong saturated colors
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Tempera

"Deliverance" Figurative Narrative "Being Human" vs "Human Being"
Located in San Antonio, TX
Samuel Wilson (Born 1986) San Antonio, TX Image Size: 40 x 30 Medium: Oil on Linen "Deliverance" When you see them in person you will say UNBELIEVEABLE....
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Repose (sleeping beauty woman hair portrait figurative oil painting flesh tones
Located in Quebec, Quebec
In this painting, the painter tries to portray the young sleeping, lying and oversized figure of a woman as part of the landscape. Who likes to be this person and what is she doing i...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Novelist Graham Green. Time magazine Cover Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Work is nicely archival matted to 17.75 x 16.75 inches but not framed. Signed lower left Published : Oct. 29, 1951 Cover, Time Magazine
Category

1950s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Board, Gouache

"The Helpful Sail" Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Nathan Durfee's "The Helpful Sail" is an oil painting that depicts a mystical giant rising from the river with a sailboat in hand as other sail boats pass by. Artist bio: Nathan D...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Le Sommeil
By Jean-Pierre Alaux
Located in Miami, FL
Early Surrealist work from 1957 the heyday of Surrealism - where a young blond girl caught in a dream like state hugs a mountain that has a profile of a man's face. Work is framed in...
Category

1950s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Oil

SUENO PROFUNDO
Located in Los Angeles, CA
SUENO PROFUNDO OIL AND ACRILIC ON CANVAS SIGNED, 2013 EXHIBITED MUSEO DEL BANCO CENTRAL DE COSTA RICA 43.25 X 35.5 INCHES Sofía Ruiz was born in 1982....
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas, Oil

Se faire les ongles
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives in Montpelier, France Classic Painting for Contemporary History He defines his painting as " The world as a representation " His oil on canvas paintings are born ...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

La Bataille de Fibonacci
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives in Montpelier, France Classic Painting for Contemporary History He defines his painting as " The world as a representation " His oil on canvas paintings are born ...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Good the Bad and Ugly (oil painting monochrome man cowboy western hat)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
keywords; surrealism, portrait, oil painting, earth tones, figurative painting, strangeness, contemporary surrealistic, unsettling, contemporary figurative painting, dreams, symbolic...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Candy Eyes issue #5 - 21st Century, Figurative Painting, Woman, Portrait, Blonde
Located in Berlin, DE
Candy Eyes issue #5, 2010 Oil on canvas (Signed front upper left corner) 13 4/5 H × 10 1/5 W in 35 H × 26 W cm Through his works, Mihai Florea equally satirizes, the one who produce...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Reflections
By Philip Campbell Curtis
Located in London, GB
Philip Campbell Curtis American 1907 - 2000 Reflections Oil on board, signed and dated 1960 Image size: 12 ½ x 5 ½ inches Original frame
Category

1960s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Future Worship - Contemporary, Blue, Internet, Woman, Redhead, Female
Located in Berlin, DE
Future Worship, 2012 Oil on canvas (Signed on reverse) 86.61 H x 47.24 W in 220 H x 120 W cm "Worship" represents the worshiped objects of the consumerist society – oil, money and I...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The brooch (oil painting sleeping beauty surrealism man tennis figurative hair)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
A scene in the middle of nowhere: a young man with a tennis racket unexpectedly sees a huge figure of a young lady who apparently sleeps or simply dreams in front of him. keywords; ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Madonna bustier - Acrylic, 119x119 cm., limited edition
Located in Nice, FR
Limited edition of this licensed image of madonna en bustier. Numbered 33/950 and certificated by Z gallery and Celebrity gallery, signed by Ryan Gall and Da...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Discovery", contemporary, realist, geometric, portrait, ink, oil painting
Located in Natick, MA
Steve Sangapore’s “Discovery” is a 48 x 36 oil, ink and 24k gold leaf painting inspired by the idea of intellectual search and discovery on a wood pane...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

"Portrait of a Man" Grey Cubist Portrait
Located in Houston, TX
Surrealist portrait of a man with multiple shades of black, grey, and white. The painting is signed and dated in the bottom right corner. The painting is framed in a black frame with...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Capture (girl soldier surrealist oil painting sleeping child portrait figurative
Located in Quebec, Quebec
Trapped, imprisoned and guarded - are there reasons to do so? Maybe "She" is dangerous, or possibly quite harmless, she is dreaming and serene. keywords; surrealism, portrait, oil p...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Couple (oil painting woman portrait man flesh tones sleeping beauty vintage)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
"The significant size difference plays with the perception of the viewer, perhaps confused, one asks oneself the question, if what is shown much larger, is also much more important ....
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

NYC Biz
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives in Montpelier, France Classic Painting for Contemporary History He defines his painting as " The world as a representation " His oil on canvas paintings are born ...
Category

2010s Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Flores Silvestres, Framed Acrylic Painting, 1983
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Froylan Ojela, Mexican Title: Flores Silvestres Year: 1983 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed, dated and titled verso Size: 28.25 x 25 inches Frame Size: 36 x 28.5 inches
Category

1980s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Girl in Blue Dress
By Andrei Medvedev
Located in Long Island City, NY
An oil painting by Andrei Medvedev from 1998. A surrealist portrait of a young girl and a kitten in the rococo style. Artist: Andrei Medvedev Title:Girl in Blue Dress...
Category

1990s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Self-Portrait in Paris
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Robert-Louis Nicoidski, Swiss (1931 - 2001) Title: Self-Portrait in Paris Year: circa 1978 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r.. Size: 57 x 44.5 in. (144.78 x 113.03 cm) Frame...
Category

1970s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Curtis Sliwa, Guardian Of The City
Located in Brecon, Powys
His time in New York City has ingrained Berlin with the whole vibe of the culture that existed in the city at that time. He is so passionate when talking about it and the lasting eff...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Vertumnus, Oil Painting by William Skilling, After Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: William Skilling, After Giuseppe Arcimboldo Title: Vertumnus Year: circa 1950 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 42 in. x 36 in. (106...
Category

1950s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Street Smart: Contemporary Surrealist Portrait
Located in Brecon, Powys
His time in New York City has ingrained Berlin with the whole vibe of the culture that existed in the city at that time. He is so passionate when talking about it and the lasting eff...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

E9E6C9 - Hyperrealistic Oil Painting: Fusion of Traditional and Photorealism Art
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Combining photorealistic oil painting on canvas with the illusion of computer-rendered graphics, Jose Carlos Zubiaur’s original artworks transcend the depth of a hyperrealistic three...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Shop Antique and Vintage Portrait Paintings

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.

Recently Viewed

View All