Roundup Of 16 Mid-Century Portraits From Etsy

The other day, I had a little extra time on my hands and decided to do an impromptu search for “mid-century portrait paintings” on Etsy. I typed exactly that into the search bar, and although some of the results were definitely not what I had in mind, I ended up falling down the rabbit hole of a very specific type of art that did speak to me: Socialist Realism.

Nearly every tab that I opened on my Internet browser ended up being from this era and region, and I quickly realized that I couldn’t keep the beautiful pieces of art to myself. So, I decided to round up all of my favorites for you here. Scroll on for the linked portraits, all of which are one of a kind and currently for sale through Etsy.

1. 1960s “Schoolgirl” Female Portrait ($149)
2. Vintage 1963 Original Oil Painting by Kohan K. ($89)
3. Old Original Oil Man’s Portrait ($89)
4. 1970s Socialist Realism Portrait of a girl ($95)
5. Original Oil Painting Of A Woman ($89)
6. 1970s Man’s Portrait ($99)
7. 1980s One of a kind Signed portrait ($89)
8. Vintage Large Pop Art Portrait Oil Painting ($460)
9. Socialist Realism 1960s Woman’s Portrait ($99)
10. Old Original Oil Painting Portrait ($95)
11. Vintage portrait of a boy ($149)
12. A.Solodovnikov 1970s Woman’s Portrait ($79)
13. 1960’s Male figure ($69)
14. 1970s Socialist Realism Man’s Portrait ($69)
15. Vintage male portrait ($69)
16. 1970s Woman’s portrait ($75)

You can probably sense the style theme here—intermingled (but not mixed) colors, a kind of sketchy, unfinished quality, vague backgrounds. Although most of these are on the small side, nearly all of them are hugely affordable (the only exception being the Vintage Large Pop Art Portrait Oil Painting), and each would make a big impact either hung or leaned somewhere in your space.

Which one is your favorite? I personally love the last portrait of the young woman in a blue turtleneck shirt. Her far-off gaze is really intriguing and I love the mix of colors in her face. Number three, Old Original Oil Man’s Portrait, is another favorite, probably for the same reasons. Leave your vote in the comments below!

*My promise to you is that the affiliate links featured in this post spotlight items that I would buy for myself.