18th and 19th centuries

In the late 18th century and early 19th century, neoclassical artists depicted subjects attired in the latest fashions, which were derived from ancient Greek and Roman clothing styles. The artists used light that had great clarity to define texture and the simple roundness of faces and limbs. French painters Jacques-Louis David and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Italian sculptor Antonio Canova were leading practitioners of neoclassical portraiture.
Self-portrait (1906), Umberto Boccioni. Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1910) by Pablo Picasso. Anne in White (1920) by George Bellows.Romantic artists, who worked during the first half of the 19th century, preferred to paint exciting portraits of inspired leaders and agitated subjects, using lively brush strokes and dramatic, sometimes moody, lighting. French artists Eugène Delacroix and Théodore Géricault painted particularly fine portraits, the most noteworthy being Géricault's series of portraits of mental patients (1822-1824). Spanish painter Francisco de Goya painted some of the most searching and provocative images of the period, including La maja desnuda (c. 1797-1800), which is believed to be a portrait.
The realist artists of the mid-19th century created objective portraits depicting ordinary people. French painter Gustave Courbet created many realistic portraits, while French artist Honoré Daumier produced many caricatures of his contemporaries. French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec chronicled some of the famous dancers in the theater. French painter Édouard Manet, whose work hovers between realism and impressionism, was a portraitist of outstanding insight and technique.
Self-portrait (1887) by Vincent Van Gogh.The impressionists of the late 19th century relied on family and friends to model for them and painted intimate groups and single figures represented either outdoors or in light-filled interiors. French painters Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre Auguste Renoir created some of the most popular images of individual sitters. Noted for their shimmering surfaces and rich dabs of paint, these portraits are often disarmingly intimate and very appealing. American artist Mary Cassatt, who worked in France, was noted for her engaging portraits of mothers and children. Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh, both postimpressionist artists of the late 19th century to early 20th century, painted revealing portraits of people they knew, but they are best known for their powerful self-portraits.
John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) spanned the change of century and was generally considered to be the most successful portrait painter of his era. Sargent was born in Florence, Italy to American parents. He studied in Italy and Germany, and then in Paris under Emile Auguste Carolus-Duran.