LONDON - The National Portrait Gallery and Getty’s innovative collaboration to jointly acquire Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Mai (Omai) for £50 million, has secured one of the most enduring icons of British art for the Public, in negotiations closely supported by Christie’s Private Sales and Heritage and Taxation Advisory Service.

The National Portrait Gallery raised £25 million which, thanks in huge part to a grant of £10m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, an Art Fund grant of £2.5m, together with a matching amount from Getty in the US, makes up the £50m needed to acquire the painting. Donations were also received from over 2,000 Art Fund members, National Portrait Gallery supporters and members of the public, giving gifts of all sizes.

The shared ownership of the work and strategic partnership between the National Portrait Gallery and Getty will maximize public access to the work in perpetuity and the two institutions will share the painting for public exhibition, research and conservation care.  The painting will first be exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery when it reopens on 22 June, following a major transformation project and will later will be shown at other institutions across the UK. Mai will travel periodically between the two countries, sharing time equally between them with the first Getty presentation in 2026.

Sir Joshua Reynolds’ spectacular Portrait of Mai (Omai) holds a pivotal place in global art history, depicting the first Polynesian to visit Britain, and is widely regarded as the finest portrait by one of Britain’s greatest artists. Known as “Omai” in England, Mai (ca. 1753-1780) was a native of Raiatea, an island now part of French Polynesia, who traveled from Tahiti to England with Captain James Cook. He spent the years 1774-76 in London, where he was received by royalty and the intellectual elite, and indeed became something of a celebrity. Mai returned to his homeland in 1777 and died there two years later.

Ruth Cornett, Senior Director of Christie’s Heritage and Taxation, said: “We are delighted to have played our part in these historic negotiations to secure this masterpiece for two great institutions in the UK and US.”

John Stainton, Deputy Chairman of Old Master Pictures, said: “Reynolds’ magnificent portrait of the young Tahitian Mai is among the most important paintings executed in Britain in the 18th Century and we are proud to have been closely involved in the negotiations that have ensured its future on public exhibition.”

The painting will first be exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery when it reopens on 22 June.