Portrait Paintings for Sale

It is a different surface to paint on, not a lesser artwork. We list a piece on cardboard or artboard when the painting itself is strong, and it arrives as a signed, one of a kind original with the same Certificate of Authenticity and the same return terms as a canvas. What changes is care: board dislikes damp and knocks, so hang it on an interior wall away from a bathroom or a kettle.

This collection runs from about 30 by 40 cm up to about 100 by 100 cm, so there is no oversized portrait on this page. That top size fits above a fireplace or a console table, but it will look lost on a double height lobby wall. If you need a face at greater size, we would arrange a commission with one of these artists rather than sell you the wrong piece.

Portraits here focus on a single head or bust, at up to about 100 by 100 cm, priced from about $300 to about $1,200. The people collection is broader figure work, includes full bodies and mixed media, runs larger at up to about 145 cm tall, and starts lower at around $72. For a face looking out at the room, browse here. For a body in a scene, browse there.

Often yes, and we will ask the artist if the listing does not say. Some portraits here are of a real sitter, some are invented or combined faces, and the artists differ in how much they want to explain about them. Message us with the title and we will pass on whatever they tell us. We do not invent a story to help a painting sell.

Send the portrait back in good condition under our Lifetime Trade-Back and take store credit toward the larger piece. There is no deadline on that, so a portrait bought near $300 for a first apartment can become part of the budget for a bigger work years later. The returned painting goes back into the collection for another buyer, which is why its condition matters.

Yes, ask and we will photograph it for you. Every piece is here in our Vancouver studio, so we can send close ups of the surface, the edges and the signature, plus a short video in daylight, which shows texture that one flat listing photo hides. If you are in Vancouver, book a private viewing instead and look at the painting yourself.

Hang a portrait so the subject's eyes sit at roughly your own eye level, about 145 to 155 cm from the floor to the centre of the canvas. A face hung too high looks down at the room and feels distant. Over a sofa or a console, drop the piece so the bottom edge sits 20 to 25 cm above the furniture.

It is not strange at all, and portraits of strangers have hung in homes for centuries, because a good portrait is about presence and mood rather than the identity of the sitter. Visitors read the expression, not the name. If the face still holds you after a week of looking, it belongs on your wall.

An original portrait makes a strong gift for someone with settled taste, and a risky one for someone whose taste you cannot predict, because a face on the wall is a personal thing to live with. Our 14-day home trial covers that risk: if the piece does not suit them, it comes back and we pay return shipping.

Original portraits in this collection start at about 72 dollars for small head studies, with most mid-size finished works between 400 and 1500 dollars. Faces take skill and time, so a well painted portrait costs more than a decorative piece of the same width. Commissioned portraits are priced separately, based on size and the number of figures.

Over a fireplace, choose a portrait about two thirds the width of the mantel, usually 70 to 90 cm (28 to 36 inches) wide. Leave 15 to 30 cm between the mantel shelf and the bottom of the frame. Check the heat first, because a working wood fire pushes warm air straight up the chimney breast.

Wrap the painted face in glassine or clean paper, never plastic against the paint, then add bubble wrap, corner protectors, and a sheet of cardboard front and back. Carry it upright, never flat under other boxes. Keep the original box we shipped it in if you can, since it was cut to fit that exact piece.

Look across the surface at a low angle: an original portrait has brush ridges, especially in the highlights of the skin and eyes, while a print is flat and shows a fine dot pattern under a magnifier. Prints also repeat identical detail. Every portrait we sell is hand-painted, signed by the artist, and comes with a certificate.