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
Rising Sun by Sonia Martin
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Rising Sun by Sonia Martin
Rising Sun
Paintings - 61x51 cmRent for $85 /mo
Goldilocks  by Ruby Read
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Goldilocks  by Ruby Read
Goldilocks
Paintings - 120x90 cmRent for $250 /mo
Proprio du tréfonds II by Boris Davy
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Proprio du tréfonds II by Boris Davy
Proprio du tréfonds II
Paintings - 100x100 cm
Mario by Fabien Delaube
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Mario by Fabien Delaube
Mario
Paintings - 70x50 cm
Égérie by Florina Aledo Perez
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Égérie by Florina Aledo Perez
Égérie
Paintings - 100x40 cm
Woman with Cat by Joanna Pilarczyk
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Woman with Cat by Joanna Pilarczyk
Woman with Cat
Paintings - 120x91 cmRent for $405 /mo
Love is in the (H)air by Lucie Lith
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Love is in the (H)air by Lucie Lith
Love is in the (H)air
Paintings - 100x81 cm
Blue Kimono by Magdalena Morey
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Blue Kimono by Magdalena Morey
Blue Kimono
Paintings - 100x80 cm
New Baby by Anna Bush
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New Baby by Anna Bush
New Baby
Paintings - 25x25 cm
773 Portrait violet by Félix Hemme
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773 Portrait violet by Félix Hemme
773 Portrait violet
Paintings - 50x40 cm
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Âme fortes by JAZZU
Âme fortes
Paintings - 100x73 cm
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Mask No. 16 by Gregory Malphurs
Mask No. 16
Paintings - 102x76 cm
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Non comestible by Victoria Stagni
Non comestible
Paintings - 91x73 cm
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Flowers In Harrow by Lee Kay-Barry
Flowers In Harrow
Paintings - 120x80 cmRent for $410 /mo
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Sumi by Ta Byrne
Sumi
Paintings - 20x15 cm
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Over there... by Tracy White Fitzgerald
Over there...
Paintings - 18x13 cmRent for $38 /mo
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Mend No. 15 by Elizabeth Becker
Mend No. 15
Paintings - 76x57 cm
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Spanish Style by David Horgan
Spanish Style
Paintings - 80x60 cm
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"En compagnie" by Régine Pivier-Attolini
"En compagnie"
Paintings - 80x80 cm
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Penelope I by Federica Aiello Pini
Penelope I
Paintings - 100x100 cm
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Le timide en veste à fleurs by Jéko
Le timide en veste à fleurs
Paintings - 140x107 cm
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Maïa by Florina Aledo Perez
Maïa
Paintings - 66x46 cm
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Souls grown Deep by Brenda Ullrich
Souls grown Deep
Paintings - 150x80 cmRent for $240 /mo
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My dolly by Paulina Archambault
My dolly
Paintings - 50x40 cm
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GHOSTS Pt. 2 by Gregory Malphurs
GHOSTS Pt. 2
Paintings - 41x31 cm
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JM Reclining by Jim McLean
JM Reclining
Paintings - 50x61 cmRent for $75 /mo
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En avant la vida by JAZZU
En avant la vida
Paintings - 100x50 cm
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Portrait de famille by Barbara Petit Lisy
Portrait de famille
Paintings - 97x130 cm
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Portrait No.6 by Sara Richardson
Portrait No.6
Paintings - 60x46 cm
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Le banquet des Giselles by Ho My An
Le banquet des Giselles
Paintings - 70x100 cm
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