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5 Most Famous Artists Specialized in Painting Portraits

Portrait paintings, depicting human subjects, are top selling art reproductions compared with paintings in other subjects. Historically, a well painted portrait represented richness and high social standing. Nowadays, people love to customize art reproductions of famous artists’ portrait painting. Portraits of royal family members, politicians, mythological figures are popular options for wall decoration. In this article, 5 famous artists who specialized in painting portrait and one of their master works will be highly recommended to you.

 

1. John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent is an essential fashion portraitist of the period of Impressionism. However, he was mostly a painter who did not get involved in a particular movement because he painted on what he saw. His paintings are full of descriptive details, and the painting Madame X, also known as Madame Pierre Gautreau (208.6 cm x 109.9 cm or 82.13 x 43.27 in.) created a scandal because of the discovery strap of the woman he had depicted.

The painter had to correct this version as it had been considered full of lust. Sargent painted mainly with the technique of oil painting and usually sketched with a few lines passing immediately to spread the color. He stated, "the thicker the painting, the more the color flows." He was very adept at creating shapes and the right colors with a few strokes through thick brushstrokes of paint.

Madame X, also known as Madame Pierre Gautreau

 

2. Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun was one of the most important artists of her time, especially for her role in the French court. She became the official painter of Queen Marie Antoinette. She studies the techniques of several influential artists including Rembrandt and Rubens through a painting style rich in detail compared with the painters of the past.

The painter was able to give women who portrayed a graceful and feminine appearance with extreme naturalness. The period after 1750 was a significant period for her artistic career because, thanks to the support of Queen Marie Antoinette, she became a member of the Royal Academy of painting and sculpture.

Her most famous work was Marie Antoinette and Her Children (275 x 216.5 cm or 108.25 x 85.25 in.), and we note her graceful and delicate style of painting the forms thanks to the Flemish school in which she had learned how to use proportions.

3. Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter, inspired during his artistic career by the ancient works and paintings of Rembrandt. His style was characterized by the refinement in spreading the color in which it is used to contrast the warm tones from the cold ones.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, his artistic value began recognized, and most of his works depict closed rooms with figures that mostly perform daily activities such as reading, writing and so on. Everything represented extreme meticulousness, balance and the light in his works becomes the most precious element.

Girl with a Pearl Earring (44.5 x 39 cm or 17.52 x 15.35 in.) is the most famous portrait painted by Vermeer around 1666. It depicts a girl facing three quarters covered from an unusual turban on the head, and we notice an innocent eroticism. Scholars have failed to give a real identification, but we can see a rare beauty illuminated by the pearl earring. Also, the dark backdrop makes it possible to enhance the enlightened face of the girl created with dense and compact brushstrokes, slightly blurred.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

 

4. John George Brow

John George Brown was an English painter naturalized American, specializing in painting kid portraits. His paintings depict mostly joyful moments and are rich in details with well-proportioned figures.

Bluffing (64.14 x 51.75 cm or 25.25 x 20.38 in.)created in 1885 displays the scene two children are playing cards with worn and torn clothes. The painting is focused on the theme of the game and may have been an attempt by the artist to divert attention from the social class depicted as most of his clients came from high society. The artist tried to capture the spirit of street children.

Bluffing

 

5. John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse was a painter of the Pre-Raphaelite artistic current recognized above all for the representation of subjects of Greek and Arthurian mythology.

His works mostly depict two main groups, one belonging to that of Classical inspiration and the other of Arthurian inspiration including Ophelia (124.46 x 73.66 cm or 9 x29 in.). in the act of collecting flowers in which he combines the feminine theme with that of water through a meaning symbolic.

The artist has also recognized as the poet of colors thanks to his interest in Shakespeare and represented on the canvas the poetry of the famous playwright. The subjects are above all women with an absolute beauty that embodies creatures of air and water. These girls are colored with mostly bright and full of light tones and the artist often used theatrical stages to represent the backgrounds. The figures are quite voluminous, in the round and we often notice in his paintings particular of nature like plants and flowers.

His paintings concern a contrast between the sacred and the profane, mythology and religion, poetry and ancient history.

Ophelia

 

You can see lots of portrait paintings in famous museums, such as The Louvre Palace. If you like to love to decorate your house with famous portrait paintings, HandmadePiece would love to help you bring museum quality painting reproductions to home.

Categories: Famous Artists and Paintings
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