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Portrait Paintings For Sale
Style: Minimalist
Style: American Realist
Joseph Margulies, Portrait of a Girl Oil Painting
Located in Larchmont, NY
Joseph Margulies (American, 1896-1984)
Untitled (Portrait of a Girl), 20th Century
Oil on canvas (or possibly linen?)
29 3/4 x 25 in.
Framed: 33 3/4 x 26 x 1 1/2 in.
Signed lower rig...
Category
20th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Large Contemporary Oil Portrait of Party People Smoking, Laughing, and Drinking
By Nancy Lamb
Located in Fort Worth, TX
The Menthol Mood, 2009, Nancy Lamb, Oil on canvas, 48 x 85"
Nancy Lamb (American, born 1956), sculptor and painter. Formally trained at Texas Christian Un...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic, Oil
Tribesmen with Headdresses - Photo Realism
By Robert Riggs
Located in Miami, FL
Tempera mixed with gum arabic and alcohol on Renaissance Panel
"Robert Riggs was awarded the Gold Medal for Excellence by the New York Art Directors Club for ten consecutive years and received many additional awards." He was elected to the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts and the U.S. Library of Congress. Riggs's compositons are "monumental" Walt Reed Riggs was a Gay Artist...
Category
1940s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Tempera
Young girl Redhead Holding her father's hand Illustration
By Robert Riggs
Located in Miami, FL
There is a reason why there are few contemporary painters who can paint a portrait this good. It's hard to do. It's easy to throw some paint or spray a mess of graffiti on canvas. ...
Category
1940s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Movie Poster Illustration for "American Pop"
Located in Miami, FL
McLean's consummate skill as a portrait artist, graphic designer and master of composition is on full display in the complex narrative work. This work contains 41 portraits including those of Bette Midler, Jimi Hendrix, and Benny Goodman...
Category
1980s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Canvas
The Hatchet - Movie Moment of High Drama
By Amos Sewell
Located in Miami, FL
High drama and fear is exressed on the faces of 5 kids as they anticipate the outcome a scary event.
Signed lower left
From the Estate of Charles Martignette.
Most likey for the Sa...
Category
1950s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Charles Laughton, Time magazine cover Illustration, March 31, 1952
Located in Miami, FL
Archivally Matted to 17.75 x 16.75 inches
Signed lower left
Category
1950s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Mixed Media
Venetian Holiday, American Realist, Representational, Landscape, Venice Italy
Located in Houston, TX
Venetian Holiday is painted in the style of American Realism. The painting is a Representational Italian landscape which is the Plaza in Venice. This realist painting was done on sight on a vacation to Italy. The artist painted himself into the realist painting.
Gary J. Hernandez is an internationally recognized, award winning artist in the style of Realism portrait ,landscape and floral paintings He received training from the Houston Museum of Fine Arts School of Art specializing in Realism and Figurative Art.
He specializes in representational art as seen in Venetian Holiday with an emphasis on the human figure and florals as seen in Her Majesty's Lilies. He was a finalist in The Artist's Magazine International Art Competition, an Award of Excellence winner in the Manhattan Arts Magazine Competition, finalist in Hunting Art...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
The Troubadour's Love
Located in Sempach, LU
"A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). The texts of troubadour songs deal mainly with themes of chivalry and ...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The beauty of dance XIII
Located in Sempach, LU
A continuation of the ballet topic. A beautiful ballerina in a dance moving. Realistic contemporary art with dancing ballerina. You can see also the beginning of the painting with gr...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
A girl who loves the sea II
Located in Sempach, LU
Sunny contrasting girl portrait at the sea coast. The beautiful sea waves crushing on the coast. The sea wind is playing with hair. An artwork which brings summer and sea in to your ...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
The ballet friends
Located in Sempach, LU
This is a continuation of the ballet topic. In creating this piece, I immersed myself in the ethereal grace of ballet.
I used oil to capture the delicate interplay of light and sha...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
American Social Realist Portrait Painting of a Coal Mine Owner by Jesse F. Reed
Located in Baltimore, MD
This highly stylized portrait depicts a well dressed man in front of a mining property likely in West Virginia. It is very much in the manner of earlier American artists such as Gra...
Category
Late 20th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Walking on the beach
Located in Sempach, LU
A beautiful contrasting woman portrait with a sea in the background. In this oil painting, I captured a moment of sunset and the evening light playing in the hair of a woman walking ...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Lockdown Self-Portrait" contemporary realist portrait of artist in his studio
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Lockdown Self-Portrait" is a contemporary realist portrait of the artist in his studio.
Framed Dimensions: 17 x 20 inches
Marc Dalessio was born in 1972 in Los Angeles, Californi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Post Office WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Modern 20th Century
By Carlos Lopez
Located in New York, NY
Post Office WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Modern 20th Century
Carlos Lopez (1910-1953)
"Bounty" WPA Mural Study for Michigan Post Office
19 ½ x 22 ½ inches
Oil on B...
Category
1940s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Board, Oil
The ballet angel
Located in Sempach, LU
"A continuation of the ballet topic. A contrasting ballerina portrait.
In this artwork I tried the tender interplay of light and shadow. Oil medium allowed me to layer and blend, cra...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Figurative portrait of a young girl "GirlFriends #1"
Located in East Quogue, NY
Figurative portrait oil painting on panel of a young girl by Judith Raphael
Size: 7 x 5 inches (unframed)
Judith Raphael creates portraits invented from various sources, including ...
Category
Early 2000s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
Portrait of a Gentleman, Early American Portraiture, Sideburns, Cleft Chin
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
Portrait of a Gentlemen, c. 1835
Oil on Canvas
30" x 25"
Housed in a 2 1/2" Frame
Overall Size: 34 1/2" x 29 1/2"
Craquelure throughout, some inpainting. In otherwise good condi...
Category
Early 19th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The grape picker
Located in Sempach, LU
Classical portrait of a woman harvesting grapes. In this oil painting, I captured the serene essence of nature and the simple elegance of human connection with the earth.
The centr...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Linen
"Take a Bow" small realist oil painting of pink rose in simple floating frame
By Edwina Lucas
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
A small square oil painting of a pink peony on a white background.
Framed in a modern natural wood floating frame.
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
"Reflection", oil painting
By Wang Kun
Located in Denver, CO
Wang Kun's "Portrait of Qiang Woman" is an oil painting created in 2023 that depicts a traditional Qiang woman.
kun Wang(王琨), was born in Jilin Province of China in 1970.
His legs...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Pastel Blue", Wood, Original Figurative Portrait Painting, Affordable
Located in Deddington, GB
Jorunn Mulen was inspired by love. A chance encounter in an Italian cafe or an antique photograph at a London flea market can each become a part of my visual capture. Her poetic port...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood
Mona Lifta, American Realist Painter, JACKED Mona Lisa, Steroids
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
Jackson Wrede (American, Born 1996)
Signed: Jackson Wrede (Lower, Right)
" Mona Lifta ", 2022
Oil on Canvas
20" x 14"
Housed in a 3" Frame
Overall Size: 26" x 19 3/4"
The painting is in excellent condition.
Jackson Wrede is an award-winning painter whose studio is located in Grand Rapids, MI. Wrede grew up in the suburbs of Chicago before attending the University of Notre Dame for his undergraduate studies. He later received his MFA in 2021 from the Kendall College of Art & Design.
After graduating, he decided to stay in Grand Rapids, where he now works as a full-time painter. At 27 years of age, Jackson Wrede has gained recognition as one of the top realist painters...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Circus Acrobats - ( Friends with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo )
Located in Miami, FL
As they take center stage, four acrobats are depicted, forming an architectural structure composed of contorted human bodies. The small gallery of onlookers displays a variety of ex...
Category
1930s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
James Ormsbee Chapin, 1887 – 1975, American Painter, 'Lady in a Fur Waistcoat'
Located in Bruges, BE
James Ormsbee Chapin
New Jersey 1887 – 1975 Toronto
American Painter
'Lady in a Fur Waistcoat'
Signature: Signed lower left and dated 1913
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Image size 100 x 75 cm, frame size 117 x 92 cm
Biography: Chapin James Ormsbee, born on July 9, 1887, in West Orange, New Jersey, was a distinguished American painter and illustrator. His contributions to the art world left a lasting impact, and his legacy extended beyond the canvas into the realms of music and family connections.
Chapin’s artistic journey began with formal education at Cooper Union and the Art Students League of New York. Seeking further inspiration, he continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Antwerp in Belgium. Early in his career, he garnered recognition by winning the Temple Gold Medal of the Pennsylvania Academy for his compelling portrayals of the Marvin Family.
Notably, Chapin created a series of portraits in the 1920s featuring the Marvin family, a body of work that significantly influenced the early history of Regionalist art. His artistic prowess extended beyond portraiture, as evidenced by at least five cover art commissions for TIME magazine during what has been termed the golden age of TIME covers, spanning from 1942 to 1966.
Chapin’s artistic creations found homes in the private collections of art enthusiasts and various prestigious institutions, including The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The Phillips Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Harvard Art Museums, among others.
In 1918, Chapin married Abby Beal Forbes in New York, and they welcomed a son named James Forbes Chapin, who later gained fame as a celebrated jazz drummer. This artistic lineage continued with James’s son, singer-songwriter Harry Chapin. Despite the initial union with Forbes, Chapin later divorced.
During the late 1930s, while teaching in California, Chapin encountered Mary Fischer...
Category
Early 20th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Macintosh-original modern impressionism still life oil painting-contemporary Art
By James Zamora
Located in London, Chelsea
"Macintosh" by James Zamora is a striking ode to technological elegance, where the artist's brushstrokes breathe life into the iconic Macintosh computer. This original still life, cr...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of a Girl, American Portraiture, Blue Eyes, White Dress, Excellent
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
Presented is a wonderful example of mid-19th-century American Portraiture.
Portrait of a Girl, c. 1850s
Oil on Canvas
27" x 22"
Housed in its original period frame
Spandrel Sit...
Category
Mid-19th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Child Star" Mid Century Portrait of a Boy with Brown Eyes Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
"Child Star" Mid Century Portrait of a Boy with Brown Eyes Oil on Canvas
Stately portrait of a boy by William Robert Shulgold (Russian-American, 1897-1989). The subject is looking o...
Category
1950s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"September sentiment", Wood, Original Figurative Portrait Painting, Affordable
Located in Deddington, GB
Jorunn Mulen was inspired by love. A chance encounter in an Italian cafe or an antique photograph at a London flea market can each become a part of her visual capture. Her poetic por...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Wood, Acrylic
Portrait of a Gentleman, Early American Portraiture, 1830s Portrait of a Man
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
John F Francis (American, 1808 - 1886)
" Portrait of a Gentleman ", 1838
Oil on Canvas
30" x 25"
Housed in a 3 1/2" Frame
Overall Size: 37" x 32"
...
Category
Early 19th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Another love'"Jorunn Mulen, Original Figurative Portrait Painting, Affordable
Located in Deddington, GB
Jorunn Mulen was inspired by love. A chance encounter in an Italian cafe or an antique photograph at a London flea market can each become a part of her visual capture. Her poetic por...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood
"Portrait of Qiang Woman", oil painting
By Wang Kun
Located in Denver, CO
Wang Kun's "Portrait of Qiang Woman" is an oil painting created in 2023 that depicts a traditional Qiang woman.
kun Wang(王琨), was born in Jilin Province of China in 1970.
His legs...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Judaica Pastel Portrait Rabbi Painting WPA Era Artist, Social Realist
Located in Surfside, FL
Bernard Gussow 1881 -1957
Bernard Gussow was active/lived in New York, New Jersey / Russian Federation. Bernard Gussow is known for genre, landscape, figure, interior paintings.
Ber...
Category
1940s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel
On the Balcony - American Scene Female Artist
By Louise Lue Osborne
Located in Miami, FL
Female artist Louise Lue Osborne paints a classic composition with an interaction of two women and a child soaked in golden late light. The figural gro...
Category
1930s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Synthetic Resin, Fiberboard
A Painting of Adaline Glasheen as a Writer's Muse
By Alexander Brook
Located in Boston, MA
Signed lower right: 'A.Brook '59'.
Painted in Sag Harbor, Long Island in 1959. Adeline (Adaline) Glasheen was a writer. She was a friend of the artist and worked in literary circle...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of Loti-kee-yah-tede of the Laguna Pueblo by Paul Surber
Located in Paonia, CO
Loti-kee-yah-tede, a Laguna woman who often posed in that same fringed costume and jewelry for photographer Carleton Moon is a Paul Surber acrylic painting on a board in an ornate gold frame from one of those photographs. Loti-kee-yah-tede, was the chief’s daughter of the Laguna Pueblo, when she was photographed wearing Ka-waik clothing with a belt and beaded necklaces by Carl Moon in about 1905. The Laguna Pueblo is located in the semi-arid lands west-central New Mexico, near Albuquerque. From 1905-1906, Moon had a short-lived partnership in Albuquerque with businessman Thomas F. Keleher, called the Moon-Keleher Studio. After the partnership dissolved, Moon continued working, photographing carefully selected Indian “subjects” in a romantic, posed style. His photographs began appearing in magazines and he exhibited at the Museum of Natural History in New York. President Theodore Roosevelt invited Moon to exhibit his Native American photographs...
Category
20th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"Unemployed" WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern
Located in New York, NY
"Unemployed" WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern
William Gropper (1898 - 1977)
Unemployed
20 x 16 inches
Oil on canvas, 1937
Signed lower right
Provenance: E...
Category
1930s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Black Angel - African American Artist - Black Artist
Located in Miami, FL
This powerful and graphically composed image of a black man with white angel wings was painted in a realist style by African American artist Thomas Blackshear...
Category
Early 2000s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
English Pointer minimal black and white ink painting on Indian rag paper
By Ian Mason
Located in Charleston, US
This lovely minimal black and white dog painting of an elegant English Pointer, is a contemporary portrait in ink on Indian rag paper which displays Ia...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Ink
Hopper's Chair
Located in Boston, MA
Thomas Darsney’s paintings reveal a palpable tension between the tactile sensuousness of fabric and the subdued brushstrokes of paint made flesh. United by this visual juxtaposition,...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Equestrian Show Jumping Portrait by Leonid Gervits
Located in Larchmont, NY
Leonid Gervits (Russian/American)
Untitled (Show Jumping), 2000
Oil on canvas
28 x 22 in.
Initialed and dated lower left: LG 00
Leonid Gervits was born April 12, 1946 in a middle cl...
Category
Early 2000s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Stunning English Pointer minimal black and white ink painting on rag paper
By Ian Mason
Located in Charleston, US
This elegant minimal black and white dog painting of a seated English Pointer which has turned his head to hear his owner speak, is a contemporary portrait in ink on Indian rag paper...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
English Setter minimal black and white ink painting on rag paper
By Ian Mason
Located in Charleston, US
This elegant minimal black and white dog painting of a seated English Setter gazing lovingly at his owner, is a contemporary portrait in ink on Ind...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
Mark Twain Oil Portrait
By John Haberle
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
John Haberle (1856-1933) was an American painter in the trompe-l'œil period and was most commonly known for his skill of painting objects that were laid out so perfectly that they could be mistaken for the objects themselves. This artist is considered one of the three major artists of this period. Although he was most famous for his Still Life works, there are many portraits that he made. Mark Twain, a famous writer of the gilded age known for his many stories, especially The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn...
Category
19th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
American Midwest Regional Portrait Oil Painting, Circle of Grant Wood, ca 1940’s
Located in Baltimore, MD
Create a statement or focal piece for a room. This is a very stylized portrait of a woman dating to the 1940’s. She fills the canvas with her wholesome countenance, hair and period c...
Category
1940s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Papillon (Head)
By Ian Mason
Located in Charleston, US
This charming minimal black and white dog painting of a Papillon with his wing like ears is a contemporary portrait in in on Indian rag paper which...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
India Ink, Rag Paper
English Setter minimal black and white ink painting on Indian rag paper
By Ian Mason
Located in Charleston, US
This lovely minimal black and white dog painting of an elegant English Setter, is a contemporary portrait in ink on Indian rag paper which displays Ian ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Ink
Hopeful of the Dream City
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
"Hopeful of the Dream City" invites viewers to delve into the depths of the young lady's aspirations. Her gaze is fixed on a distant horizon, eyes filled with a mixture of excitement...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Ink, Oil
Bulldog Minimal Black and White Dog Painting on Board with Gray Background
By Ian Mason
Located in Charleston, US
This lovely minimal black and white dog painting of a Bulldog is a contemporary portrait in acrylic on board which displays Ian Mason's unique abil...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Ink, Acrylic
Bassett Hound minimal black and white ink painting on Indian rag paper
By Ian Mason
Located in Charleston, US
This lovely minimal black and white dog painting of a Bassett Hound, is a contemporary portrait in ink on Indian rag paper which displays Ian Mason's unique ability to harmoniously i...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Portrait Paintings
Materials
India Ink, Rag Paper
Daydream (WPA Era Oil Painting on Canvas)
Located in New Orleans, LA
What is she dreaming about? Something in the book that is open in front of her? And who are the other characters in this moody, quiet, lovely scene? Not only a wonderful painting, but really captures that WPA period feel. A pensive painting sure to bring you peace. With frame it measures 33" x 27"; canvas measures 30" x 24". Frame has some weathering (probably original) but is still serviceable. The following is some bio information about the artist I pulled from AskArt:
"Born in Swerzen, Russia, Bernard Green came to the US at a young age and settled in the New York City area. He studied art at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, the College of the City of New York and NYU, exhibiting at the NAD as early as 1910, where he won a prize both in 1910 and 1913, as well as at the ASL, winning another prize in 1914.
Highly accomplished both as painter and etcher, Green continued exhibiting at the NAD throughout the years 1913-1946, at the Pan-Pacific Exposition in California in 1915, and at various galleries and other venues including a solo show at the Roerich Museum in 1930. His style was early 20th-century American Impressionist, and his interests covered a wide range from landscapes and still life to portraiture, including black subjects...
Category
Early 20th Century American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Girl with Braided Hair, Raphael Soyer
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Raphael Soyer (1899-1987)
Title: Girl with Braided Hair
Year: Circa 1987
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 12 x 9 inches; framed size, 19 x 16 inches
Condition: Excellent
Inscripti...
Category
1980s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Portrait of Chinese Couple. Pearl S. Buck Tiger Tiger Illustration Cosmopolitan
Located in Miami, FL
Among the many accolades I would grant Dean Cornwell, the one that rises to the top would be that he is one of America's greatest portrait painters. With a few strokes, he captures h...
Category
1930s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Horace Porter, United States Ambassador to France
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas
Plaster and gilded wood frame
114 x 95.4 x 10 cm
Category
Early 1900s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Untitled
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
"Lady and the Dove" is an artwork that encapsulates the beauty, gentleness, and harmony found in the relationship between humans and nature. The title itself suggests a depiction of a lady and a dove, symbolizing a connection between the human spirit and the serene world of birds...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Blond and Blue Eyed Ballerina in Tutu against Chinese Screen
Located in Miami, FL
Prolific Saturday Evening Post Cover Illustrator Pearl L. Hill Worthington paints a stunning portrait of a Ballerina in a tutu with underlighting. She sits on a decorative Chinese ...
Category
1920s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Figurative Portrait Dario Agrimi Bianco Walking Lady Oil Painting Black White
Located in Napoli, IT
Eclectic artist, born in Atri in Abruzzo in 1980, he works in the field of contemporary art with conceptual creations from the age of 18 years. He currently lives in Puglia.
In his s...
Category
2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings
Materials
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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Queen Elizabeth 2 Portrait
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18th C French Lady Paintings