Michael Godfrey
2010s Realist Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Antique Early 18th Century English Rococo Wall Mirrors
Giltwood
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Vintage 1950s English Baroque Architectural Elements
Stone
2010s Realist Landscape Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Realist Landscape Paintings
Oil, Panel
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Aquatint
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil, Canvas
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Oil
People Also Browsed
1970s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
Bamboo, Rattan, Cane
20th Century English Post-Modern Arms, Armor and Weapons
Bronze
Antique 19th Century French Louis XV Wall Mirrors
Porcelain, Mirror
Antique Late 19th Century English Victorian Card Tables and Tea Tables
Lacquer
Antique Mid-18th Century European Wall Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
Antique 1790s American Chippendale Wall Mirrors
Mercury Glass, Mirror, Wood, Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Antique Early 19th Century Classical Roman Garden Ornaments
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Water...
Paper, Pencil
Antique 18th Century Georgian Chinese Chippendale Wall Mirrors
Giltwood
1990s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Sculptures
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Water...
Ink, Acrylic
1980s Modern Figurative Paintings
Paper, Pastel, Gouache
Early 20th Century Tonalist Landscape Paintings
Paper, Pastel
Recent Sales
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
Early 18th Century Portrait Paintings
Oil
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil, Canvas
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1720s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1690s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1720s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Portrait Prints
Antique 18th Century and Earlier English George I Drawings
Paper, Wood, Glass
Michael Godfrey For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Michael Godfrey?
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.