Portrait Paintings For Sale

Explore our curated selection of portrait paintings online. Featuring work ranging from expressive self-portraits to mesmerising photorealism, our online gallery enables you to discover and collect contemporary portrait art from emerging artists.

Our expanding collection of portraits has been carefully curated, offering a variety of styles, mediums and subjects available to purchase.

Not sure where to begin? Start with our selection of realistic portraits, which use pencil, paint and sculptural mediums to carefully model the human form.

For something a little different, discover our collection of expressive portraits, combining vivid colour and emotive linework to create dramatic portrayals that convey intense emotion.

The History of Portrait Painting

Portrait painting has evolved over centuries, balancing realism with social demands to flatter and elevate subjects. Historically, artists often idealised their sitters, enhancing youth or power to meet their clients’ wishes. This is especially evident in Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait (1434), where a wealthy couple’s fine clothing and decor reflect their social status.

During the Baroque period, artists introduced a new psychological depth into portraiture, capturing not only a sitter’s appearance but their inner lives and emotions. Rembrandt mastered this approach, as seen in Portrait of Jan Six (1654). Six, a wealthy Amsterdammer, appears thoughtful and introspective, suggesting an intellect and sensitivity beyond status.

By the late 19th century, portrait painting saw shifts in artist autonomy, with painters like John Singer Sargent challenging societal norms. Madame X (1884), his portrait of socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, was intended as a grand society piece but scandalised viewers with Gautreau’s bare shoulder and defiant pose.

The 20th century witnessed the unravelling of conventions in portraiture. The invention of photography reduced the need for accuracy in paintings and allowed for the recording of unidealised figures and fleeting moments. Lucian Freud exemplified this with Reflection (Self-portrait) (1985), where he captured his own weary expression and ageing skin, revealing vulnerability and a new uncompromising vision.

Portrait Paintings for Sale on Rise Art

Like Freud, Karen Turner is known for her frank and honest portraits that celebrate the body in all its forms. A liberating rawness characterises her work, seeking to normalise larger bodies. Are There Any Questions? is a tender yet but provocative portrait, in which a woman poses nude, completely at ease in her body, and challenging societal expectations of weight.

In contrast to Turner’s provocative work, Karoline Kroiss creates surreal scenes of female subjects in peaceful, airy compositions. In Und plötzlich versteht man es (2023), the body is punctuated by swirling lines that soar into the sky, creating a dialogue between freedom and constraint, stillness and movement.

London-based Jamaican artist Mikela Henry-Lowe is known for her portraits exploring the representation of black women in society. Artworks like Ebb and Flow (2023) place the sitter in a surreal dreamscape of teal and gold patterns. The sitter’s frank expression towards the viewer projects a raw emotional depth – complex in both its strength and vulnerability.

Discover more emerging artists in the gallery below and buy original portrait paintings online on Rise Art.

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All Art
showing 3,643 pieces
La robe rouge by Régine Pivier-Attolini
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La robe rouge by Régine Pivier-Attolini
La robe rouge
Paintings - 50x50 cm
Herakles by Fabien Delaube
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Herakles by Fabien Delaube
Herakles
Paintings - 80x60 cm
la fin no. 2205 by LiShan CHONG
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la fin no. 2205 by LiShan CHONG
la fin no. 2205
Paintings - 14x18 cm
Midday by Denise Dalzell
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Midday by Denise Dalzell
Midday
Paintings - 61x76 cm
Complexe by Kogaone
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Complexe by Kogaone
Complexe
Paintings - 60x60 cm
Mirror of Spirit by Tou Toa
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Mirror of Spirit by Tou Toa
Mirror of Spirit
Paintings - 52x36 cmRent for $490 /mo
Letzte Chance (Last chance) by Ralf Schmidt
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Letzte Chance (Last chance) by Ralf Schmidt
Letzte Chance (Last chance)
Paintings - 100x100 cm
It's Not Like Years Ago by Amy Dury
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It's Not Like Years Ago by Amy Dury
It's Not Like Years Ago
Paintings - 150x120 cm
Silent distance by Melinda Matyas
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Silent distance by Melinda Matyas
Silent distance
Paintings - 90x90 cmRent for $440 /mo
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Confrontation by William Fice
Confrontation
Paintings - 28x32 cm
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Senza titolo by Stefano Abbiati
Senza titolo
Paintings - 40x40 cm
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Un si beau dimanche 6 by Sylvaine Catoire
Un si beau dimanche 6
Paintings - 80x60 cm
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gemusterte Bluse XIII  by Karoline Kroiss
gemusterte Bluse XIII
Paintings - 20x20 cm
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Présence by Claudie Gimeno
Présence
Paintings - 61x46 cm
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Minder by Angela Smith
Minder
Paintings - 101x67 cmRent for $170 /mo
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Tête en bleus by Marie-Astrid Grivet
Tête en bleus
Paintings - 81x100 cm
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Premier bain by Anne Laurentia Rouxel
Premier bain
Paintings - 30x30 cm
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Living Room Oddities by Héloise Delègue
Living Room Oddities
Paintings - 110x130 cm
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The adventurer by Victoria Stagni
The adventurer
Paintings - 60x76 cm
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Who can see the sea? by Sadie Aston
Who can see the sea?
Paintings - 80x68 cmRent for $120 /mo
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Les escargots by Cindy Nikolic
Les escargots
Paintings - 46x38 cm
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Artist by Enzo Marra
Artist
Paintings - 35x28 cmRent for $130 /mo
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Brightness by Irene Hoff
Brightness
Paintings - 110x100 cm
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Square by Mim Clavane
Square
Paintings - 31x31 cmRent for $72 /mo
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L'offrande by Alain Pontecorvo
L'offrande
Paintings - 84x103 cm
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Jaune by Tatiana Ivchenkova
Jaune
Paintings - 32x23 cm
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Young adults by Serena Singh
Young adults
Paintings - 150x160 cm
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Portrait by Boris Garanger
Portrait
Paintings - 50x50 cm
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