Im in process of moving to a bigger room for my studio. What joy to find older art I made and need to sell it. No more storing it. visit my shop :)

I have had this discussion brought up lately around me multiple times, so I thought to discuss it here. a gallery owner said that people don't buy portrait paintings unless they know the person portrayed.
I think about this a lot because I do not believe this could be rule. If it is, I want to make the exceptions
i love painting portraits and I need to explore how to get around this if its not welcome to buyers to see.
I began a series that plays with this theory, ill post on later.
My favorite portraits others have done are too good to care who is in them. Not just in technique Famous people do grab your attention, maybe an unknown person has to be great in other places in the painting to grab your interest in place of that
Is face recognition the grab? Does audience participation depend on a history with the figures inside the frame, or can a very good painting be worthy of purchase as a new experience with a stranger? -vcc