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 3,409 pieces
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
Maandamano II by Ijakaa
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Maandamano II by Ijakaa
Maandamano II
Paintings - 98x60 cm
ID no. 90 by Zin Lim
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ID no. 90 by Zin Lim
ID no. 90
Paintings - 45x36 cm
Abstract Head No. 22 by Gregory Malphurs
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Abstract Head No. 22 by Gregory Malphurs
Abstract Head No. 22
Paintings - 61x46 cm
Mask No. 15 by Gregory Malphurs
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Mask No. 15 by Gregory Malphurs
Mask No. 15
Paintings - 102x76 cm
Blooming speech by Diana Rosa
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Blooming speech by Diana Rosa
Blooming speech
Paintings - 61x122 cm
Cocoon by Irene Hoff
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Cocoon by Irene Hoff
Cocoon
Paintings - 120x120 cm
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Abstract Head No. 5 by Gregory Malphurs
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Marcy  by Erin Dunn
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Mask No. 18 by Gregory Malphurs
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Mask No. 25 by Gregory Malphurs
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Never Alone #6 by Diana Rosa
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Abstract Head No. 19 by Gregory Malphurs
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Umeshu by Cannibal Malabar
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Mask No. 24 by Gregory Malphurs
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Paintings - 61x46 cm
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Natural by Elizabeth Becker
Natural
Paintings - 61x46 cm
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