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Sir Joshua Reynolds’ celebrated 18th-century Portrait of Omai, jointly acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the UK’s National Portrait Gallery and Royal Museums Greenwich, will go on view at the Getty in Los Angeles. The landmark shared ownership deal kept the painting in public reach after a record private sale threat.
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has announced that Sir Joshua Reynolds’ “Portrait of Omai”, one of the most celebrated British paintings of the 18th century, will go on view to the public at the Getty. The display follows the painting’s landmark joint acquisition by the Getty together with the UK’s National Portrait Gallery and Royal Museums Greenwich, a shared-ownership arrangement that kept the work accessible to the public after it was sold at auction to a private buyer in 2022.
The full-length portrait depicts Mai, a young Polynesian man from Raiatea who traveled to England in 1774 aboard a ship from Captain James Cook’s second Pacific voyage. In London he became a celebrity of fashionable society, widely known as “Omai”, and was received at the royal court. Reynolds painted him in 1776 in classical robes and a pose borrowing from antique sculpture, a treatment that made the work famous as both an artistic landmark and a document of Britain’s first sustained encounter with the Pacific.
The painting had hung in the same family collection for more than two centuries before its sale at auction. In 2022 it fetched roughly £50 million, a record price for the artist, and a temporary UK export bar was imposed to give British institutions time to raise matching funds. When a UK-only purchase could not be completed, the Getty and the two British museums reached an unusual shared-ownership agreement, allowing the work to leave and return to Britain in alternating periods while remaining in public collections.
Under the arrangement, the portrait will rotate between Los Angeles and the United Kingdom, spending periods on display at the Getty and at the National Portrait Gallery and Royal Museums Greenwich. The Getty has confirmed the painting will form part of its permanent collection displays, marking the first time the work will be seen in the western United States.
The joint acquisition is being watched closely in the museum world because it offers a template for resolving a recurring problem: how to keep a nationally significant artwork in public view when no single institution can afford it. The shared-ownership model between an American museum and two British national collections allowed the export crisis to be resolved without the painting disappearing permanently into private hands.
For the Getty, acquiring a share of the portrait gives Los Angeles audiences access to a work long regarded as Reynolds’ masterpiece and a foundational image in the history of British portraiture. For UK institutions, it preserves public access on a rotating basis while spreading the cost of a record-priced painting.
The portrait itself carries weight beyond art history. As an image of a Polynesian visitor painted at the height of European empire, it has become a focal point for discussions about colonial encounter, representation and how museums interpret such works for contemporary audiences.
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From Cook’s Voyage to Auction Block
Mai left Raiatea — a Polynesian island — and reached London in 1774, where his arrival coincided with intense British fascination with the Pacific following Cook’s voyages. He was presented to King George III, hosted by the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, and became a well-known figure in London society before returning to the Pacific in 1776.
Reynolds, the leading portraitist of his generation and first president of the Royal Academy, never sold the painting, which remained in his studio and then passed through private collections, ultimately descending within one family for over 200 years. Its 2022 auction sale set the stage for the export controversy: the UK government’s reviewing committee ruled that a temporary export licence deferral be granted while a matching offer was sought, and the £50 million-plus price tag proved beyond the reach of any single British museum acting alone.
The Getty–National Portrait Gallery–Royal Museums Greenwich pact was agreed in 2023, ending the export standoff. The painting was subsequently shown in London, including at the reopening displays of the National Portrait Gallery, before traveling to California.
“The Portrait of Omai will go on view at the Getty, giving audiences in Los Angeles the chance to see one of the most important portraits ever painted.”
— J. Paul Getty Museum (announcement)
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Display Dates and Rotation Schedule
The Getty has confirmed the portrait will go on view, but specific opening dates and the length of its initial Los Angeles display have not been fully detailed in the announcement. The precise rotation schedule governing when the painting travels between the Getty, the National Portrait Gallery and Royal Museums Greenwich has not been published in full.
It also remains to be seen how the Getty will interpret the portrait in its galleries — including whether the display will address Mai’s biography and the colonial context of the work through dedicated labeling or programming. The institutions have not announced whether special exhibitions or scholarly projects will accompany the painting’s travels.
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Where Omai Travels From Here
The portrait will be installed at the Getty Museum as part of its permanent collection displays, giving West Coast audiences a first opportunity to see the work. Visitors should check the Getty’s schedule for confirmed opening dates.
After its Los Angeles showing, the painting is expected to return to the United Kingdom for display at the National Portrait Gallery and Royal Museums Greenwich under the rotating arrangement. The three institutions are likely to coordinate future programming around the work, and the shared-ownership model is expected to be studied by other museums facing similar export and acquisition standoffs.
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Key Questions
What is the Portrait of Omai?
A full-length 1776 painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds depicting Mai, a Polynesian man from Raiatea who became a celebrity in London after arriving in 1774 on a ship from Captain Cook’s second Pacific voyage. It is widely considered Reynolds’ masterpiece.
Who owns the painting now?
It is jointly owned by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and Royal Museums Greenwich, under a shared-ownership agreement reached in 2023 after the painting was sold at auction in 2022.
Why was the painting at risk of leaving public view?
It sold at auction in 2022 for roughly £50 million to a private buyer. A UK export bar was imposed, but no single British institution could raise the full amount, prompting the three-museum joint acquisition.
When can visitors see it at the Getty?
The Getty has announced the painting will go on view as part of its permanent collection displays. Exact opening dates had not been confirmed; visitors should check the Getty Museum’s website for current scheduling.
Will the painting stay in Los Angeles permanently?
No. Under the joint-ownership arrangement, the portrait will rotate between the Getty in Los Angeles and the National Portrait Gallery and Royal Museums Greenwich in the UK, so it will be displayed on both sides of the Atlantic.
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