20 of the Best Contemporary Portrait Painters
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Enjoy Curated Selection of Exquisite Artworks
Collective Pinterest boards are growing at a steady pace. With the number following a collection of artworks entitled Best Painted Portraits now exceeding 24,000, it seems appropriate to highlight noteworthy contemporary artists.
We love art as much as you do. Wherever possible, links to the original artist websites are included in each pin. Because of the narrow-width Pinterest format, images may be cropped for maximum impact.
ClinicalPosters receives no compensation or profit from the promotion of fellow artists in this manner and promptly removes upon request any who do not wish to participate. Direct interest in art commissions or purchases to the artists or their representatives. With nearly 2K pins in the Best Painted Portraits, every artist cannot be named here but there are some that routinely get repinned and others that are recurring personal favorites.
Contemporary Artist Biographies
Desktop computer users, hover below alphabetical artists’ names to view cropped sample image. They should automatically collapse. They may either be fully visible or require a tap on mobile devices. Click respective names to visit full image on Pinterest:
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(Swedish, b. 1985), nickalm.com
Alm’s style borders between realism and representational figures. Not limited to tight portraits, subjects appear thoughtful, meditative, engaged, or playful.
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(American, b. 1984), caseybaughfineart.com
Whether figurative or portrait, nearly every mesmerizing painting by Baugh evokes a somber mood.
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(Brazilian), marcosbeccari.com
Using watercolor, subjects of figurative and portrait paintings often appear to be lost in their own thoughts or gazing deep within the viewer’s soul.
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(South Korean, b. 1984), patrickbyrnespaintings.com
Patrick teaches drawing and painting at Grand Central Atelier, as well as workshops throughout the US.
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(Spanish, b. 1961), litacabellut.com
Cabellut produces somewhat abstract mixed-media expressionist paintings with vivid textures and realistic portraits unlike any other artist.
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(British), stevecaldwell.co.uk
Caldwell manages to depict realism within his acrylic portraits that reveal a surprise of complex textures upon closer examination.
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(German, b. 1948), helnwein.com
Using oil and acrylic, Helnwein paints masive hyperreal portraits displayed worldwide. Included in his extensive collection are a large number of self-portraits and his family of children.
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(Cuban, b. 1977), yuniorhurtado.net
Now living in Lima, Peru, Hurtado paints mostly close-up vivid portraits of beautiful smiling people wering reflective sunglasses that provide a glimpse into the subject’s geography.
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(Japanese, b. 1965), kenaga-yasunari.com
Using a combination of mineral pigments, gelatin glue, and soot ink on linen canvas, Ikenaga delicately paints beautiful Asian female figures and portraits wearing detailed fabric prints in muted colors.
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(American, b. 1981), patrickkramerart.com
Kramer channels his OCD into extremely detailed hyperreal paintings of people, landscapes, and still life.
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(American, b. 1981), larriva.blogspot.com
Larriva has a strong following that quickly draws hundreds, if not thousands of repins. The rather loose expressionist style seems to quickly convey innocent beauty in his mostly female portrait oil paintings.
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(South African, b. 1970), jimmylaw.co.za
Working with colorful acrylic paints, self-taught Law paints close-up portraits of beautiful male and female subjects of a variety of ethnicities in an expressionist style that includes drips and grunge.
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(American, b. 1953), arcadiacontemporary.com/artists/malcolm-t-liepke
Easily one of the most popular contemporary painters, maintaining some 20 to 30 figure paintings in progress at once, Liepke conveys captivating emotion on each canvas.
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(American, b. 1966), josephlorussofineart.com
Lorusso primarily paints orange-lit barroom scenes and seductive females in an appealing style. Redhead subjects are frequently depicted with red noses.
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(British), william-oxer.com
Oxer paints realistic figurative and portrait paintings with classical techniques in a manner reminiscent of aged photos with enough brush strokes to convey his dreamy style.
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(Spanish, b. 1962), gabrielpicart.com
Generally painting detailed city scenes or females in relaxed poses Picart is a master realist whose paintings invite the viewer to enter an imaginary world.
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(Italian, b. 1971), silvioporzionato.com
Based in Moncalieri, Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy, he works primarily with oil based paints to capture striking emotion in his captivating expressionist portraits.
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(Cuban, b. 1982), santocesar.com
This prolific oil painter frequently disguises himself and/or his wife within realistic figurative and portrait paintings. Demonstrating his versatility, the "Syncretism" series mixes iconic work by masters.
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(French, b. 1961), www.saatchiart.com/taurua
Oil on canvas portraits portray an inviting glamour.
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(German), philippweber.com
Weber is an exceptional figurative and portrait hyperreal painter whose work defies photography.
Links change for various reasons—usually site redesign. We are discovering broken links to many pins sourcing collections of high-resolution images at Kai Fine Art. We are progressively correcting such links. Where possible, artist websites are included within descriptions even if the actual works cannot be found therein.
It should be emphasized that these are 20 of the best not necessarily the best 20 portrait painters. We have only scratched the surface of thousands of talented artists. Digital illustrators and artists using pastels, charcoal, and graphite are excluded from this list. We hope you will follow the works of these and other contemporary artists. Let us know in the comment section below if you would like to see additional featured artists. There are many more to explore on Pinterest.
