PAINTINGS IN OIL YOU CAN AFFORD
In the case of a portrait painting you should consider in the first place its value to you. Then according to the scale of importance you set the price you are able and willing to pay. There is no such a thing as a fixed market price for a commissioned portrait painting. Size is irrelevant. Miniatures have fetched prices far above huge canvases. As a successful artist once said to a client: "Paintings by the square foot are sold next door..."
Of course you expect a good likeness and in addition a well executed piece of art. It is important to look for the best artist you can afford to do the job, because you can only truthfully honor a sitter with a painting that breathes a life of its own and is a pleasure to look at time again.
A work of art is a value in its own right and art is the basic value of a painting. Likeness is very important and will add additional charm to the painting itself.
Everything in life has its own price, which may not be the same as its value. You should expect to pay a price as close to the value as possible. The final sum may be an exaggeration for one and a reasonable or even low amount for someone else. Much depends on the value you attach to it or the money you are able or willing to spend on that particular item.
As soon as you have found a competent artist who can do the job and produces regular work that's up to your expectations you may bargain the price and the way you would be able to pay for it. However, the artist probably has his own conditions but he may still may be flexible in some way. But if he is good and in great demand he has naturally a stronger foothold.
A nice well executed picture will give you many years of growing satisfaction and has a increasing value for you. You may not want to part with it at any price. A lesser standard may be a source of regret later on.
Additionally a good painting is rather an investment in culture and esteem. It will show others your good judgement and taste. to top
What is more important in a commissioned portrait,
Artistic Character or Photographic quality ?
When commissioning a portrait there are a couple of things to consider. The basic reason for having a portrait made is to honor the person in the most dignified fashion you can. You are deciding on one of the most beautiful time honored mediums, a true oil painting.
Beware of slick photographic copies. The portrait should have a PAINTERLY quality and not mimick PHOTO. It is no compliment to an artist to tell him that his painting is almost like a photo. Why should an artist go through the trouble of rendering a photograph in oil? Better put a frame around an original photo and keep it that way.
A good painting is more the result of the artist's technique and virtuosity and his way of grasping the sitter's personality than the dexterity in obtaining a perfectly photographic detailed effect. The sitter is obviously changing day by day, getting more mature or older, and after a certain period of time the momentary likeness to the sitter is no longer important. But when the artist is capable of capturing the personality of the sitter in a pleasing composition and the painting is professionally executed, we will really have honored the sitter.
Every artist has his own techniques and vision to obtain this goal. This is why we know most of the museum portraits more by the name of the painter and rarely by that of the sitter. The portraits are Rembrandt's, vanDyck's, Velasquez's, David's, Ingres's, etc. to _________________________________________________________________top
Should a good portrait painting be executed directly from the sitter?
Some portraits were painted directly from the sitter, however, most are not. The great masters of the past did not have the luxery of modern technique. They made several sketches from the sitter and created their masterpieces with the help of these sketches and mannequins draped with original clothes of the sitter or borrowed dowry and also models were hired to sit for the painter. This was an intelligent approach to a common problem. The person to be portrayed did not have the time to sit for hours or weeks, even months and in the case of Ingres up to eight years. They most probably lacked the patience and wouldn't make very good models after all. The same practical problems exist today. A painting of one of the kings of England was done by a french artist who never left France and never saw the monarch. He got reference sketches done by other artists together with a coin showing the king's effigy. He produced however a masterpiece.
The world's most famous painters of the past would have loved to embrace modern technology and use reference photographs. Not to copy slavishly but for use as a creative tool. The impressionists used photographs to great advantage without any trace or intent to produce a photographic quality.
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Fabulous Reproduction Possibilities
Now here is an other exiting new feature of modern times. You may want a reproduction of the portrait you commissioned for another member of your family, without spending a lot of money.
Using the 20th Century Giclée technology you may obtain an excellent copy of an original oil painting also ON CANVAS.
A respectable reproduction in the same size or even in different dimension as the original can be produced. Prestigious Museums around the world are using this method to sell reproductions of famous works of art. Because of this came the sticker "ArchivalQuality".
This is a obviously a great idea for those of the family or friends who would like to enjoy having f.i. an identical copy of an original portrait of their parents in their own home.
We can go even further. The same can also be used to produce very original seasonal greeting cards, either on paper, or to make it even more special, also on real canvas!
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