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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    Woman Seated in Pink by Heidi Lanino
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    Woman Seated in Pink by Heidi Lanino
    Woman Seated in Pink
    Paintings - 102x76 cm
    Mask No. 24 by Gregory Malphurs
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    Mask No. 24 by Gregory Malphurs
    Mask No. 24
    Paintings - 61x46 cm
    Mask No. 20 by Gregory Malphurs
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    Mask No. 20 by Gregory Malphurs
    Mask No. 20
    Paintings - 76x61 cm
    Mask No. 22 by Gregory Malphurs
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    Mask No. 22 by Gregory Malphurs
    Mask No. 22
    Paintings - 61x46 cm
    untitled #21 by Elina Evstig
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    untitled #21 by Elina Evstig
    untitled #21
    Paintings - 100x80 cm
    Not Merely Different But Opposite by Karen Turner
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    Not Merely Different But Opposite by Karen Turner
    Not Merely Different But Opposite
    Paintings - 40x30 cmRent for $105 /mo
    Mask No. 16 by Gregory Malphurs
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    Mask No. 16 by Gregory Malphurs
    Mask No. 16
    Paintings - 102x76 cm
    the food we shared by Elina Evstig
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    the food we shared by Elina Evstig
    the food we shared
    Paintings - 100x100 cm
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    Mask No. 2 by Gregory Malphurs
    Mask No. 2
    Paintings - 102x76 cm
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    Local Way 1 by Buhle Nkalashe
    Local Way 1
    Paintings - 50x50 cm
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    Une belle image du bonheur by JAZZU
    Une belle image du bonheur
    Paintings - 81x130 cm
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    Pinky by Erin Dunn
    Pinky
    Paintings - 51x51 cm
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    Abstract Head No. 5 by Gregory Malphurs
    Abstract Head No. 5
    Paintings - 102x76 cm
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    Clear Water by Sonia Martin
    Clear Water
    Paintings - 92x82 cmRent for $170 /mo
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    The diarist in 1943 (Hommage to Anne Hrank) by Melinda Matyas
    The diarist in 1943 (Hommage to Anne Hrank)
    Paintings - 91x61 cmRent for $280 /mo
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    Rückenakt by Karoline Kroiss
    Rückenakt
    Paintings - 75x70 cm
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    Roots by Irene Hoff
    Roots
    Paintings - 75x75 cm
    Free and easy 14 days returns
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    Schmetterling XVII by Karoline Kroiss
    Schmetterling XVII
    Paintings - 30x30 cm
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    Au loin by Sylvia Baldeva
    Au loin
    Paintings - 38x28 cm
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    Red Room by Sonia Martin
    Red Room
    Paintings - 102x92 cmRent for $225 /mo
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    Lady of Leisure (diptych) by Kirsten Lilford
    Lady of Leisure (diptych)
    Paintings - 75x180 cm
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    Split Lenin by Oleksandr Balbyshev
    Split Lenin
    Paintings - 90x70 cm
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    La Connaissance by Clara Crespin
    La Connaissance
    Paintings - 50x70 cm
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    Doudou #2 by Alexandra Chauchereau
    Doudou #2
    Paintings - 92x66 cm
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    Soul Interpreter by Buhle Nkalashe
    Soul Interpreter
    Paintings - 96x140 cm
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    Roman Woman  by Tony Girolo
    Roman Woman
    Paintings - 56x56 cm
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    Melancholia No. 2 by Elizabeth Becker
    Melancholia No. 2
    Paintings - 76x61 cm
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    Automne by Flore Betty
    Automne
    Paintings - 80x60 cm
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    La rêveuse by Victoria Stagni
    La rêveuse
    Paintings - 81x100 cm
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