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
Whispers into nowhere by Gugi Goo
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Whispers into nowhere by Gugi Goo
Whispers into nowhere
Paintings - 95x80 cm
Sleeper by Darren MacPherson
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Sleeper by Darren MacPherson
Sleeper
Paintings - 42x30 cmRent for $75 /mo
Here I’ll stay (After Millais) by Lucia Jones
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Here I’ll stay (After Millais) by Lucia Jones
Here I’ll stay (After Millais)
Paintings - 61x92 cmRent for $285 /mo
Where's My Bloody Charger! by Evelyn Morgan
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Where's My Bloody Charger! by Evelyn Morgan
Where's My Bloody Charger!
Paintings - 90x75 cmRent for $155 /mo
The sitting angel theory by Frank Schroeder
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The sitting angel theory by Frank Schroeder
The sitting angel theory
Paintings - 140x150 cm
Tant pis  by Ho My An
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Tant pis  by Ho My An
Tant pis 
Paintings - 20x20 cm
Face on the wall by Val Escoubet
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Face on the wall by Val Escoubet
Face on the wall
Paintings - 80x60 cm
Surrendered State by Sadie Aston
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Surrendered State by Sadie Aston
Surrendered State
Paintings - 40x50 cmRent for $75 /mo
TROU de MEMOIRE by Michel de Gouttes
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TROU de MEMOIRE by Michel de Gouttes
TROU de MEMOIRE
Paintings - 99x60 cm
Green Neon 3 by Georgia Peskett
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Green Neon 3 by Georgia Peskett
Green Neon 3
Paintings - 46x61 cmRent for $135 /mo
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 First Sister by Barbara Kuebel
First Sister
Paintings - 100x100 cm
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Framed Artist and Bust by Enzo Marra
Framed Artist and Bust
Paintings - 15x20 cm
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Red Siesta  by Maria Magenta
Red Siesta
Paintings - 200x150 cm
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La tasse by Franz Alias
La tasse
Paintings - 30x24 cm
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A Warm Summer Day by Denise Dalzell
A Warm Summer Day
Paintings - 51x61 cm
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The Dark Horse by Buhle Nkalashe
The Dark Horse
Paintings - 90x86 cm
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La Cabezada by Pascal Milcendeau
La Cabezada
Paintings - 73x92 cm
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Borealis by Darren MacPherson
Borealis
Paintings - 100x100 cmRent for $290 /mo
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Celebrate life 15  by Damola Ayegbayo
Celebrate life 15
Paintings - 122x92 cm
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Deep in thought by Ta Byrne
Deep in thought
Paintings - 105x135 cm
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solitude 26062020/ by LiShan CHONG
solitude 26062020/
Paintings - 23x18 cm
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Orphee by Fabien Delaube
Orphee
Paintings - 70x50 cm
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Figura 4 by Orazio Barbagallo
Figura 4
Paintings - 24x18 cm
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I'm going to be a pilot by Melinda Matyas
I'm going to be a pilot
Paintings - 80x60 cmRent for $340 /mo
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Tabletop Choreography by Edina Gulyas
Tabletop Choreography
Paintings - 100x100 cm
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Balloons II by Manuel Pablo Pace
Balloons II
Paintings - 30x24 cm
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