London’s National Portrait Gallery and the J. Paul Getty Museum will share the painting. It will go on display at the London gallery in June
One of the earliest portraits of a person of color by a British artist will remain on public display after London’s National Portrait Gallery and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles struck a 50 million-pound deal to buy it.
“It’s undisputed how important this is in terms of British art history,” National Portrait Gallery director Nicholas Cullinan said. He said it would have been a “tragedy” if the painting had disappeared into private hands. The first known Polynesian visitor to Britain, Mai came from the island of Raiatea near Tahiti and travelled to England with explorer Captain James Cook in 1774. He was figure of fascination and became a celebrity – granted an audience with King George III, invited to Parliament and a guest at literary soirees hosted by novelist Fanny Burney and writer Samuel Johnson.
After Reynolds’ death in 1792, the painting was bought by the artist’s friend the Earl of Carlisle and remained at his stately home, Castle Howard, until it was sold to a private collector in 2001 for $16.5 million, at the time one of the highest prices ever paid for a British painting.
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