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Portrait Paintings For Sale
Period: 1960s
Period: 1920s
Portrait of a Lady - Large South Eastern European Oil on Canvas Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A beautiful mid 20th century Southeastern European oil on canvas portrait of a lady wearing a white headdress. This intriguing work is expertly painted with thick impasto paintwork which has been built up across the surface. Indistinctly signed lower right and presented in a reverse profile frame. We think that this work was painted by an artist working in Southeastern Europe, most likely Greece or Macedonia. Artist: Southeastern European School...
Category

1960s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

English mid century oil painting Portrait of cute Corgi dog
Located in Woodbury, CT
English mid century oil painting Portrait of a cute Corgi. Paintings of this breed are very rare and very collected. Kate Gray was a British animal portrait painter during the last...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Portrait of Franklin Atwood Park, VP of Singer Mfg. Co.
Located in Soquel, CA
Portrait of Franklin Atwood Park, VP of Singer Mfg. Co. Stately portrait of Franklin Atwood Park by Arthur Trevethin Nowell (British, 1862-1940). Park is sitting for a classical por...
Category

1920s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

English mid century oil painting Portrait of a Wire Haired Jack Russell terrier
Located in Woodbury, CT
English mid century oil painting Portrait of a Wire Haired Jack Russell terrier. Kate Gray was a British animal portrait painter during the last half of the ...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Girl with Flowerpot, Expressionist Portrait by Philadelphia Artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Girl with Flowerpot" is a portrait painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 40" x 36" oil on board portrait is painted in a vibrant color palette. The...
Category

1960s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

Oil Painting On Canvas Dated 1921, Military Portrait By Paul Leroy
By Paul Leroy
Located in Gavere, BE
"Oil Painting On Canvas Dated 1921, Military Portrait By Paul Leroy" Paul Alexandre A. LEROY (1860-1942), French school. Description: Very beautiful oil painting on canvas, represent...
Category

1920s French School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

'Portrait of a Man Playing Guitar', Berlin School (circa 1960s)
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of a Man Playing Guitar', oil on board, Berlin School (circa 1960s). Clearly inspired by Georges Braque's (1882-1963) and Juan Gris' (1887-1927) works, this painting is sim...
Category

1960s Abstract Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Portrait of a Young Woman
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of Young Woman', oil on board, German School (circa 1960s). A sensuous mid-century portrait of a young woman painted in the style of expressionists / cubists of the era. Un...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Donna sul fiume" Olio su tavola cm. 50 x 67 1965
Located in Torino, IT
LEONID VAICHLIA (St. Petersburg, 1922) Works by Leonid Vaichlia can be found in various private collections in Europe, Japan, United States and in the following museums: Mosca, T...
Category

1960s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Antique American Modernist Interior Scene Young Woman Portrait Rare Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Very impressive mid 20th century modernist interior scene. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed with a monogram. Really impressive quality and a great subject.
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Art Deco ca. 1920. Portrait Of Lady With Bob Cut, Purple Dress And Fur Collar
Located in Firenze, IT
Portrait Of A Young Lady From The 1920s With Bob Cut And Fur Collar Oil on canvas. Early 20th frame in wood. This portrait reveals very stylish image of a young woman from the 1920s...
Category

1920s Art Deco Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Modernist Portrait of a Child by NY Artist Syril Frank
Located in Larchmont, NY
Syril Frank (American, 1929-2021) Untitled, c. 1960s Oil on canvas 35 7/8 x 23 3/4 x 3/4 in. Provenance: Estate of the Artist Syril Harriet Frank was born in Brooklyn to Israel and...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Honoré Louis Umbricht, Portrait Of Marguerite Grosjean, Oil Painting
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This early 20th-century oil painting by French artist Honoré Louis Umbricht (1860-1943) depicts Marguerite Grosjean (b. 1895), the daughter of law of Alexandre Grosjean, the mayor of Besançon. Umbricht was a distinguished painter of genre scenes, landscapes, stills and portraits. Born in the attractive city of Obernai, in the Alsace region of North-East France, he had inspiration at his fingertips. Distant mountains, picturesque valleys, the sparkling Ehn River, and sprawling rural plains - a veritable smorgasbord of views. He honed his draughtsmanship under the tuition of his uncle, ‘Hess’, and was soon offered a scholarship by the German government to study in Munich. He refused, however, and headed for Paris to train under the highly-regarded Léon Bonnat (1833-1922). Bonnat’s studio was synonymous with success and he encouraged his students to paint freely and with expression. His own portraits were influenced by the Spanish masters, such as Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), and he extolled the virtues of this style. Umbricht was in fine company as Bonnat also trained John Singer Sargent, P. S. Krøyer, Erik Werenskiold, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Gustave Caillebotte among others. Following his training, the Paris Salon beckoned and the young Umbricht’s debut came in 1880. By 1884, he’d been awarded his first medal and several more would follow including at the Chicago and London Exhibition and the prestigious Exposition Universelle (1900). He was subsequently knighted with the Cross of the Order of Leopold. Midway through his career, the critics were alive with praise describing his portraits as “full of mastery” and with “very true and harmonious” colouring. In 1911, the newspaper ‘Le Rappel...
Category

1920s French School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Study of Blue Boy
By Mary Welch
Located in Soquel, CA
Oil painting of a study of "Blue Boy" standing with his hat in his left hand by Mary Welch (American, 1875-1967). Circa 1918. Signed "M. Welch" lower left and gifted circa "1955" on verso. Image: 6"L x 9"H. Mary Welch, born 10 years after the end of the Civil War, was a woman ahead of her time. She signed her paintings M. Welch, hoping that potential buyers wouldn't discover she was a woman. More often than not, when they learned her sex, art dealers lost interest. The Hutchinson artist never married, never had children. But when she died in 1967, she left an impressive body of paintings, many of them familiar Kansas landscapes...
Category

1920s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

English mid century oil painting Portrait of Miniature Black Poodle
Located in Woodbury, CT
English mid century oil painting Portrait of a Miniature Poodle Kate Gray was a British animal portrait painter during the last half of the 20th century. She also painted flower subj...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Antique American School WPA Modernist Black Figure Ashcan Dock View Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.
Category

1920s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American School Modernist Ballon Portrait Framed Vintage Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century modernist portrait. Framed. Oil on canvas.
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Crossed Arms (Portrait of a Blond), Nude Portrait by Jan De Ruth
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Jan De Ruth, Czech (1922 - 1991) Title: Crossed Arms (Portrait of a Blonde) Year: circa 1964 Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 35 in. x 25 in. (88.9 cm x 63.5 cm) Frame Size: 44 x ...
Category

1960s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Young Boy with Donkey, William Weintraub
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: William Weintraub (1926) Title: Young Boy with Donkey Year: 1962 Medium: Oil on board Size: 33 x 25.5 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed and dated by the artist ...
Category

1960s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Golden Age of Illustration Romance Story, Man Woman Relationship - Green Yellow
Located in Miami, FL
This impeccably rendered mid-century double portrait of a quarreling man and woman exhibits a supreme academic training knowledge lost in almost all contemporary art. It features an ...
Category

1960s Romantic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Gouache, Pencil, Graphite

Abstract Expressionist Original Oil Portrait of Man with Beard
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid Century Abstract Expressionist Portrait of Man with Beard Original mid century abstract expressionist of man with beard by California artist Genevieve Rogers (American, 1904 - 1...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Paper

Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola (1871-1950) Portrait of Lady, oil sketch signed
Located in Paris, FR
Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola ( 1871 – 1950) Portrait of a lady, a sketch signed lower right Oil on canvas transfered on cardboard 25 x 18 cm oval Framed : 31 x 24.5 cm This port...
Category

1920s Art Deco Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Pink Lady
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Pink Lady Oil on canvas, c. 1968 Signed upper right (see photo). Housed in the original frame made by the artist Titled on the reverse on the stretcher bar Inspired by DeKooning Prov...
Category

1960s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lady in Blue
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Well-known Soviet master from Minsk, Belarus. Beautifully painted portrait of a young lady in a blue dress. Framed in a 22-k gold frame.
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Abstract portrait with antique frame, 1950s/60s
Located in Washington, DC
Painting by Donald Purdy (1924 - 2016). Oil on masonite Measures 25"L x 23"W. Work is behind glass and comes with exceptional antique frame. Acquired from the Schoneman Gallery in NY...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Grandpa by Hannes Fritz-München - Oil on canvas 77x91 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Oil on canvas sold with frame Total size with frame 89x102 cm Hannes FRITZ-MÜNCHEN is an artist born in 1886 and died in 1981
Category

1920s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Young boy by Hannes Fritz-München - Oil on canvas 64x73 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Oil on canvas sold with frame Total size with frame 78x87 cm Hannes FRITZ-MÜNCHEN is an artist born in 1886 and died in 1981
Category

1920s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

French nudes painter - 20th century figure painting - Oil on canvas Paris
Located in Varmo, IT
French painter (early 20th century) - Female nude. 100 x 70 cm without frame, 109 x 79 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in a gilded wooden frame (some cracks). Condi...
Category

1920s Art Nouveau Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Girl with Cat
Located in Washington, DC
Painting by Noche Crist (1909 - 2004). Work is untitled and signed. Measures 22" x 12". Painting is casein paint and plaster on board. Catalogue of an exhibition in 2008 at the...
Category

1960s Outsider Art Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Woman at Basin, Picasso Style Portrait of a Female Nude, American Modernist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Woman by Basin" by Philadelphia born modernist and surrealist painter Leon Kelly, is a framed and matted portrait of a female nude. The 22.5" x 17.75" mixed media on artist board i...
Category

1920s American Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Portrait of a lady
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas Burgundy wooden frame 75.5 x 65 x 4 cm
Category

1920s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Antique Oil on Canvas Portrait of a Handsome Gaucho or Cowboy, American ca 1920
Located in Baltimore, MD
This is a very striking portrait of a young man with a sombrero and southwest attire that could be either be of a cowboy or gaucho from Mexico or further south. Purchased as a damag...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Vintage French Abstract Female Impasto Oil Painting
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
5050 Heavy impasto figurative oil painting Set in a hand carved 19th century wood frame Image size 17.5x 13.5"
Category

1960s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Vintage American Impressionist Portrait oil Painting " Pensive Young Girl" 1960
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
3706 Figurative Oil on stretched canvas
Category

1960s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Parisian Female Portrait Oil Painting by Vanzina
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
5-2714 Impressionist woman portrait,oil on canvas displayed in a black wood frame, signed lower left by Vanzina. Image size 19.50 H x 15.50 W
Category

1960s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Large Antique American Bahamian Young Woman Portrait Signed Rare Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Really rare and well painted portrait by Christine Walters Martin (1895-1982). Oil on canvas. Framed in a nice modernist molding. Signed. ...
Category

1920s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Pere Creixams Spanish Woman, Oil on Canvas
Located in Saint Amans des cots, FR
Oil on canvas by Pere Creixams Pico (1893-1965), School of Paris, ca.1920. Beautiful Spanish woman. Provenance: Charpentier Gallery, 76 rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, Paris (Sotheby's...
Category

1920s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Fisherman - European Post Impressionist Antique Oil Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A beautiful 1920's French or possibly German post-impressionist oil on canvas portrait of a fisherman. Excellent quality work painted with quick, sketchy brush strokes against a mott...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Military Figure Portrait Oil Painting Iran Impressionist Expressive Bold Signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Portrait of a Soldier from Tehran" is an original oil painting by Cyrus Afsary. The artist signed the painting in the lower right. This piece depicts an Iranian man with a white head scarf, a Keffiyeh. Artwork Size: 27 1/2" x 19 3/4" Frame Size: 34 1/4" x 26 1/4" Artist Bio: Cyrus Afsary studied art under the strict discipline of the Russian Realist style of painting, graduating with two degrees. He has won numerous awards, including the Best of Show at the C M Russell show of Original Western Art and the Exceptional Merit Award from the National Arts Club at the 1986 Pastel society of America show. He has also received gold and silver medals from the National Academy of Western Art and was the first recipient of the coveted Lougheed Memorial Award. Cyrus won the Painting Award for “ mystical Transformation” at the Buffalo Bill Art Show in 2006 and also shared in the choice award. In 2007 he was awarded the Best of Show at the Eiteljorg Museum and in 2009 at the Charles Russell Museum he received the staff choice award, for “Entrance to Shrine” and in 2010 the Williams Award for Collectors’ reserve at the Gilcrease Museum. Oklahoma. Cyrus is an artist /member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He participates annually in the Prix de West invitational, and the Masters of the American West Exhibition at the Autry Museum in CA. The Eitejorg Museum in Indianapolis, IN and also the Buffalo Bill show in Cody Wyoming. Cyrus was featured in the 2002 Gilcrease Museum Rendezvous in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is also a member of the Northwest Rendezvous Group. Cyrus and his work appear in numerous publications, including American Artist, Art of The West, South West Art...
Category

1960s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Girl, Oil Portrait Painting by Jan de Ruth
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Jan De Ruth, Czech (1922 - 1991) Title: Portrait of a Girl Year: circa 1964 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.l. Size: 14 in. x 10 in. (35.56 cm x 25.4 cm) Frame Size: 21 x 17...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Nude woman oil on canvas painting
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Oil measures 33x41 cm. Frame 50x58 cm. Catalan painter trained in Olot and the Llotja in Barcelona, ​​where he was a disciple of Lluis Muntané. Through his travels he completes his training. He was in Paris for a year studying Van Gogh, Cezanne and Gaugin. The following year in Holland he studied Franz...
Category

1960s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Sophie
Located in Greenwich, CT
Sophie is an expressive and highly individualistic Post Impressionist work reminiscent of Chaim Soutine. Cottavoz isn known and celebrated for using incredibly thick paint that is a...
Category

1960s Abstract Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique Neapolitan Female Portrait Oil Painting 1920
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
3933 Antique oil on canvas in an ornate period frame Image size 16.5x11"
Category

1920s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Italian, Oil on Canvas, 1924
Located in Saint Amans des cots, FR
Oil on canvas by Charles PICART LE DOUX (1881-1959), France, 1924. The Italian. Very beautiful work where post-impressionism embellished with a few cubist touches form a harmonious w...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Study of a Man', Paris, Flâneur, Boulevardier, Danish Post-Impressionist Oil
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Initialed upper right 'A.B.' for Axel Bentzen (Danish, 1893-1952) painted circa 1925. Axel Bentzen studied art as a child and, by the age of 14, was copying Old Master paintings at ...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Naked Beauty Lying with her Fan
Located in St. Albans, GB
Léon Laurent Galand 1872 – 1960 Signed and dated 1928 bottom left Artwork Size: 25.75 x 36" (66 x 92cm) Artwork Size with Frame: 32.75 x 43" (83 x 109cm) Oil on Canvas Discounted ...
Category

1920s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

High Drama Adventure Scene - Italian Illustrator Mid-Century Jules Verne
Located in Miami, FL
Original illustration was done by Renna for the novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne, published in 1963. What makes this work special is how brilliantly the subj...
Category

1960s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Illustration Board, Tempera

Pathfinder - Abstract Map - Mid 20th Century Mixed Media by George De Goya
Located in Watford, Hertfordshire
Professor George De Goya. PhD. MA. FRSA. Born In Budapest, 1915-1992, related to the Spanish artist Goya on his mother’s side. Educated in Budapest and France where he received a de...
Category

1960s Abstract Portrait Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

Self Portrait (American Post-War, Impressionist, Suite - FREE U.S. Shipping)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Alex Tschernjawski Self Portrait Oil on Canvas 1960s Size: 38x26x0.5in Signed by hand COA provided Ref.: 924802-1827 *Condition: Good vintage condi...
Category

1960s Post-War Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

The Night Passeth, the Day Cometh - British Post Impressionist art oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb British exhibited Post Impressionist oil painting is by much sought after noted artist Harry Morley. It was painted in 1921 and exhibited that year at the Royal Academy L...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait on Stage - Red Cape - Scottish 60s art theatrical portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
This stunning Scottish musical theatrical portrait oil painting is by female artist Doris Zinkeisen. Painted circa 1960 it is of a lady in a red cape on stage with instruments at her...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Woman's face oil on canvas painting
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Ramon Pichot Soler (1924-1996) - woman's face - Oil on canvas Oil measures 27x22 Frameless Ramon Pichot i Soler (Figueres, 1924 - Barcelona, May 24, 1996) was a Catalan painter. Son...
Category

1960s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Portrait of the Artist, Victor Isbrand', Paris, Copenhagen, Morocco
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed upper right, 'Oda Lauritsen' for Oda Lauritsen Isbrand (Danish, 1904-1987) and dated, upper left, '1928'. A powerful oil portrait of the artist's husband-to-be, the notable D...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Ink, Canvas, Oil

Nude woman original oil on canvas painting
By Francesc Serra Castellet
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Francesc Serra Castellet (1912-1976) - Female nude - Oil on canvas Oil measurements 73x54 cm. Frameless. Biography: Francesc Serra Castellet. Barcelona 1912 - Tossa de Mar (Girona)...
Category

1960s Feminist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Miss Moggy Hennesey on her Hunter - Scottish 60s art horse portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb horse portrait with rider is by keen Scottish horse artist and rider, Doris Zinkeisen. Painted circa 1960 the rider is Miss Margaret 'Moggy' Hennesey. Moggy, well known a...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mother and Child in Tender Moment - Female Illustrator Golden Age
Located in Miami, FL
Female Illustrator of the Golden Age, Ruth Mary Hallock, paints a sensitive, heartwarming portrait of Mother and Child in a post-impressionist style. Richly saturated hues and gestur...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A woman. 1962. Oil on canvas, 80x60 cm
Located in Riga, LV
A woman. 1962. Oil on canvas, 80x60 cm Laimdots Murnieks has said: "I am a sunny artist. The sun and a woman are the center of the world. It is not for nothing that the sun always ...
Category

1960s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tender Family Portrait - Mother and Child, Student of Robert Henri
Located in Miami, FL
Rendered with an alla prima paint application and quick gestural brushstrokes, "Tender Family Portrait - Mother and Child" reflects Margery Ryerson's deep knowledge of academic training. Reyerson studied with Robert Henri at The Art Students League. This painting is aesthetically pleasing and communicates a sense of maternal tenderness from a female artist. Margery Ryerson did a book on her former teacher. Henri's philosophical and practical musings were collected by former pupil Margery Ryerson and published as The Art Spirit (1923), a book that remained in print for several decades. Signed. Lower Left Margery Austen Ryerson (September 15, 1886 - 1989) was an American artist, painter, etcher, lithographer and watercolorist.Her work is included in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum Biography Ryerson earned her Bachelor's of Fine Arts in English from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, after attending private schools in Morristown. She went on to study under Charles Hawthorne at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and with Robert Henri at the Art Students League in New York. During the years 1920 through 1940 Ryerson taught in New York settlement houses. There she got the privilege to paint and draw the children in their care. The subjects of these paintings were often the children of the underclass and immigrants. Her artistic technique and subjects gained universal recognition and appealed to many people. Miss Ryerson is most known for her portraits...
Category

1920s American Impressionist 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.

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