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In the words of pop artist Romero Britto, “art is too important not to share.” Whether you're hanging your work on the walls of a gallery, or sharing your oeuvre online, presenting your art to new and seasoned audiences has been—and always will be—an important aspect of being an artist.
While many artists use accessible social media apps to gain recognition, these platforms also use a specific layout that can limit the way viewers consume the art presented to them. For professional artists, deciding to make a website and online art portfolios is a more effective way to exhibit the complete span of your work to audiences, who might include curators and potential art collectors. Exploring art portfolio website examples can help you get started.
20 art portfolio examples
To inspire you, we’ve hand-picked 20 outstanding online art portfolios created with Wix. Whether you’re ready to kickstart your artistic career, or just want a beautiful online space to share your art with a wider audience, take note of the smart tools and features used in these examples so you can implement them to your own site.
01. Nathalie Lete
Nathalie Lete’s clever homepage resembles a sketchbook, featuring a gridded background with her own illustrations. The various pages making up Nathalie’s portfolio are connected by a unique navigation menu, indicated by handmade illustrated icons spread throughout the page, giving attention to her artistic skill.
This site is a great example of how you can go way beyond a standard website layout when you make an art portfolio, in order to put your creativity and important visual elements in the forefront.
02. Michelle Carlos
Using your own artwork as a background on your website is a common practice when creating an art portfolio website. In Michelle’s case, a personalized splash page showcases an illustration of hers, giving visitors an exciting introduction to the artist’s expressive world.
At the center of her homepage, Michelle’s intricate logo functions as a customized button, providing a gateway to the rest of the site. The image itself is a great representation of her art, and it's deftly re-used as a well-designed favicon to give her site a professional boost.
03. Carmen & Luisa
Carmen & Luisa are an artistic duo from Spain who create video installations, performance art, sculpture, 3D animation and collage. The diversity of their oeuvre sparks visual interest on the homepage of their portfolio website, where a full page gallery is used to display images of the duo’s past projects.
With the help of a portfolio template, they've strategically placed links to a CV, bio and contact details on the header of their site, making this information available without distracting visitors from continuously browsing through their intriguing collection of works.
04. Kris Truini
When you enter Kris Truini's website, the experience begins with a striking, minimalist opening screen. A black background sets the stage, focusing your attention on a white 'K' logo. Then, in a seamless transition, the black background gently fades into a dynamic video that plays behind the logo. This subtle yet powerful introduction grabs your attention and serves as a testament to Kris's expertise in visual storytelling.
Each page is methodically laid out, with rows of full-bleed videos that bring Kris's projects to life. These videos are not only visually engaging but also informative, with overlaid labels and buttons providing more details and navigation options. This layout is not just visually appealing but also maintains a high level of organization and accessibility throughout the site.
What's particularly special about this art portfolio is that it doubles as a functional marketplace, selling Kris's unique digital assets like overlays and light effects.
05. Alef
Characteristic of his street art background, Alef’s portfolio has his proverbial signature all over it, bedazzling each section page with his own illustrations. In addition to selling art online, Alef encourages potential customers to buy works in person by inviting them to his Tel Aviv-based studio.
A welcoming message, behind-the-scenes photos, and the use of a Google Maps widget are all smart ways to get local fans to pay Alef a visit. Additionally, the use of a Live Chatbox widget will encourage interested viewers to reach out and ask questions.
06. SMEX
Also known as Alex Weir, SMEX is a young multimedia artist based in Edinburgh. His website arranges a wide array of art in an organized fashion, making it easy for viewers to browse through.
The homepage design features a slideshow of images from his graduate show at Edinburgh College of Art—a playful installation which recreated a cafe environment inside a gallery space.
Alex also uploads available works to his site, using an online store to make purchases easy.
07. Shira Bar
Shira Bar’s photography portfolio highlights the elegant style of her work. One of Shira’s analogue photographs graces the homepage, optimized to spark interest by exhibiting her unique subject matter and technical detail.
While creating a blog, with a blog maker, isn’t the first thing you’d consider when creating your art portfolio website, Shira proves that the extra step is worth it. A blog gives her an opportunity to describe the artistic process and motivation behind specific projects, giving readers a deeper understanding of her methods.
For artists like Shira, a photography portfolio template can help establish such a structure from the very start of your website design process.
You know how the saying goes: less is more. Well, in the case of Jessie Maxwell Bearden, more is more. Jessie’s art portfolio is full of flair, starting with the animated self portrait on her homepage - an exciting image which reflects her work as a multidisciplinary artist.
With all its charm and cheekiness, Jessie’s site is balanced with good design and consistency. She chose an easy-to-read font, conversational language and a straightforward navigation menu - all elements that will create a friendly user experience.
Pro tip: Connecting an Instagram feed to your site, like Jessie does, is a fantastic way to feature more images of your work, gain followers and make sure that your site is always up-to-date.
09. June Digan
Visitors to June Digan’s site will be immediately attracted to the whimsical illustration on her homepage. An overlaying text tells visitors about her work, while a ‘learn more’ button is a clear invitation to visit a more detailed About page. Here, June’s personality is revealed, featuring a portrait of the artist and a well-written professional bio.
In contrast to her playful illustrations, June’s site is a well-planned organized space, using clear lines and distinct text boxes. A good example of this is the spacious website footer design, which sheds light on her impressive list of past exhibitions and collaborations.
10. Zaria Forman
For her artistic practice, Zaria Forman took on the ambitious task of documenting climate change through her painting. An image of the artist painting a large-scale landscape of the Perito Moreno Glacier is almost overwhelming (in a good way). The photograph is used to emphasize the outstanding size of Zaria’s canvas and give visitors a taste of the artist’s motivating vision.
A standard menu at the top of her page allows for smooth navigation throughout the site, and includes visible social media links for users who want to view Zaria’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo pages. Zaria’s about page features an embedded timelapse video revealing her painting’s evolution and offers a mesmerizing glimpse into her studio life.
11. Abang
Abang proves that the simple act of registering a cool domain name (www.aaaabang.com) can help your art portfolio standout.
The visual artist from Seoul makes use of a full page gallery to display her diverse range of works, which include illustrations, installations and a slew of commissioned works. When hovering over each display image, users will discover that they can click through for more information on individual products.
12. Pedro Campos
Parallax scrolling adds a touch of depth to Pedro Campos’ portfolio, putting the detail of his profound hyperrealistic paintings in the spotlight. Another noteworthy design feature used in Pedro’s art portfolio is the special fade in/fade out effect users experience when transitioning from one page to the next. This delicate detail has a sharp impact on the user experience, making the site more interesting to browse through.
13. Paolo Ventura
Paolo Ventura’s site is noteworthy because of its simplicity. The Milan based artist’s homepage features a large, high quality image of a recent collage.
The minimalist layout Paolo uses is refreshing. Each image is framed by the ample white space that makes up the website’s background, allowing visitors to effortlessly hone in on Paolo’s works, as if they were in a museum setting.
14. Ania Hobson
Ania Hobson’s art portfolio greets viewers with a fullscreen image of one of her award-winning group portrait paintings. The image is presented in the highest quality—the paint’s texture is tangible and we can see the movement of the artist’s brushstrokes. Putting large-sized images of your work onto your site is always a good idea in order to bring visitors’ focus to what matters. Ania’s case is a positive reminder not to neglect details like size, format and quality when optimizing images for your site.
Ania has highlighted the press attention she’s received by dedicating a page of her portfolio to it. Photos of Ania’s press reviews are displayed like a gallery of their own, and users can simply click on each image to reveal the full article.
15. Talia Janover
The conceptual focus of Talia Janover’s art utilizes technological materials and complex ideas. The result? An online portfolio featuring new media installations that require a bit of explanation, inviting us to think outside the box.
As site visitors click on each image of Talia’s gallery, they’ll find that more information is revealed. This info is displayed on a separate product page that provides a short explanation from the artist, giving viewers a deeper understanding of the work.
Talia’s portfolio design is optimized for mobile use, translating well when users view it on a smartphone or tablet. This detail is often overlooked, but mobile website design is important in this day and age, when people do the majority of their browsing on-the-go.
When your artwork speaks louder than words, there’s no need to add more complexities. London based artist Marcela Baltarete proves just that, with her impressive body of work perfectly represented on her one page art portfolio.
Thanks to a simple layout, Marcela’s colorful and futuristic creations—which are anything but subdued—stand out among the portfolio’s minimalist design.
Baltarete’s expert use of white space gives visitors visual space to peruse her portfolio comfortably. Her choice of type design encourages readability, too. Balrette combines classic Courier with a sophisticated modern serif font, facilitating a sleek juxtaposition and trendy aesthetic, without going overboard.
17. Lissa Brandon
Lissa Brandon’s art portfolio starts out with a bold and beautiful splash page that is highly representative of her tangible works. As we enter into the site, an organized gallery of projects is accompanied by a parallax background and micro-animations—the perfect way to engage visitors with her work.
A dark color scheme is reflective of Brandon’s sophisticated and bold art, setting the right tone for encountering her. Using a variety of typefaces, white text and neon highlights makes for a lively and captivating design, and allows Brandon to emphasize in all the right places.
Jennifer Cartwright began taking professional photographs at the age of 56—but she has a lot of great works to show given the short span of her artistic career. Splitting her oeuvre into two categories (color and black & white,) is a great way to organize her portfolio for potential collectors. Her store is also extremely user friendly—a business savvy effort on Cartright’s part—allowing us to purchase prints directly from her site.
The homepage of Cartright’s portfolio stands out thanks to the unique featured photo and one distinguishing aesthetic decision: a contrasting website color scheme. Nothing increases readability better, and in Cartright’s case, the bright yellow font set against a black background enhances the bright and bold spirit of her work.
19. Julia Paul
The stark white background and layout of Jula Paul’s art portfolio is reminiscent of the “white cube.” Framing each image with white space, Paul facilitates the feeling of a gallery setting, drawing our attention so that we’re focused on the objects of her work.
An organized menu and portfolio provides access to the diversity of Paul’s paintings, drawings, pottery and photographs. Plus, a descriptive About page features a well thought-out artist statement, teaching visitors about her inspiration, experience and area of focus, and providing extra value for potential clients.
20. Andrew Daik Kim
Andrew Daik Kim's art portfolio showcases a masterful use of typography and a uniquely designed navigation bar. The artist's wordmark logo—which skillfully combines a blocky sans-serif font and a sloping-serif font—dominates the homepage. This blend of typography is consistently used throughout the site, creating a strong brand presence that complements the artistic content.
The hamburger menu icon, represented by a simple dot, is a subtle yet effective design choice. When clicked, it triggers an animation that sweeps the screen into darkness, with the wordmark logo elegantly positioned at the bottom. The link buttons are artfully arranged at the top, making the navigation both a functional element and a part of the site's overall artistic expression.
What should I include in my art portfolio?
On top of showcasing images, an online portfolio (whether its an art or other type of website, such as a model portfolio) allows you to share valuable information such as your CV, artist statement, available works, digital illustrations and press reviews—giving you the online real estate you need to present the full picture.
Once you choose an online portfolio website template as part of updating or you're still learning how to make a website, you’ll have everything you need to get started on your own. As you progress with your portfolio web design, here are a few pages you should consider adding to your website that will elevate it and make your portfolio a successful tool for selling and promoting your work:
Image galleries to showcase your work (use high quality photos).
An About page to provide further insights into your professional background, inspirations and work process.
An online store that will let eCommerce features facilitate quick and easy purchases of your work.
A CV to provide visitors with an overview of your educational and professional background.
A press page, if relevant, to show off critiques and reviews about your work and artist interviews.
An art blog to share your fresh ideas, artistic point of view and simply inspire visitors.
Learn more: Writing portfolio examples
How do I make an art portfolio?
Creating an art portfolio is all about showcasing your best work in order to win more commissions and paying projects. Here's how you can go about creating the best one:
Select your strongest and most relevant artworks that demonstrate your skills and style. You'll need to aim for a diverse selection that highlights your strengths and versatility. You can also adopt your portfolio when applying for different projects. If you know a potential project will require a specific type of work or medium, adjust your portfolio to reflect your experience there.
You can choose from digital or physical portfolios in terms of the format you use. Digital portfolios can be hosted on websites like Behance or by creating your own. Physical portfolios are usually bound books or folders.
High-resolution images are a must for digital portfolios. For physical portfolios, use quality materials and presentation techniques. Then, organize your portfolio logically, grouping similar work together. Label each piece with a clear title, medium and year of creation.
Include a brief resume or artist statement to provide context about your experience, education and artistic philosophy or vision.
Show your portfolio to trusted friends, family, or fellow artists to get constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement. Remember to keep your portfolio up-to-date with your latest work and any new skills or projects you've developed.
How long should my art portfolio be?
The length of your art portfolio depends on your experience, the type of work you do and the specific requirements of the job or opportunity you are applying for. In general you can divide art portfolios into two main types:
A beginner portfolio can be 5-10 pieces showcasing your best work and your range of skills.
A more experienced artist may have a portfolio of 15-20 pieces that demonstrate mastery of various styles, techniques and mediums.
Regardless of length, the most important factor is quality. Make sure every piece is polished, clearly represents your style and is relevant to the type of work you're looking for. Don't be afraid to streamline your portfolio – less is often more.
What's the best platform or builder for art portfolios?
When it comes to choosing a website builder to build your art portfolio there are a number of features you'll want to focus on.
Customizable portfolio templates, that help you make a professional and creative portfolio easily.
Ease of use, including drag and drop functionality, this means you can create an art portfolio without coding or design knowledge.
In-build analytics and SEO tools are also a plus, as they allow you to optimize and promote your site without having to source other tools.
Social media platform integrations are also a plus, especially if its important for you to share your art work on social media too.
Robust website infrastructure is a must, this usually means advanced security for your site, reliable and secure web hosting and strong website performance.