For press inquiries related to this exhibition, please email Cole Calhoun.
Joshua Reynolds's Portrait of Mai and 18th-Century Portraiture
Collection Highlights
Portrait of Mai (“Omai”) (detail), about 1776, Sir Joshua Reynolds. Oil on canvas. Getty Museum. Purchased jointly by the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Board of Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, London, 2023. Support provided to NPG by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund and other generous supporters.
Photo: National Portrait Gallery, London
This selection of painted and sculpted portraits by such artists as Gainsborough, Goya, and David explore the interplay of status, character, and identity in an age of global encounter. At its center is the US debut of Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Portrait of Mai, a compelling painting of the first Polynesian visitor to Great Britain. Portrayed in a full-length format traditionally reserved for the European elite, this depiction of Mai subtly reconfigured the genre’s conventions.
Portrait of Mai was purchased jointly by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Board of Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
This exhibition is presented in English and Spanish. Esta exposición se muestra en inglés y en español.
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Contact
Media Contact: Cole Calhoun