Portrait of early non-white celebrity ‘must not be sold’
A PORTRAIT of one of Britain’s first non-white celebrities worth £50million must be saved for the nation, a coalition of academics has said.
Portrait of Omai, a Joshua Reynolds painting of a Polynesian visitor to Britain who became an 18th-century celebrity, was set to be sold from the collection of John Magnier, an Irish billionaire, to a buyer outside the UK.
Ministers initially blocked the sale, giving campaigners time to raise £50million to buy the artwork and keep it in the UK. However, only days remain of the deferral period and a coalition of academics has called on the Government to intervene.
Lord Vaizey, the former culture minister, and several Cambridge historians have asked ministers to extend the export ban on the artwork and support a campaign to raise the money needed to buy it for the British public.
In an open letter to the Government, campaigners wrote: “As a ‘signal work’ in the history of colonialism, scientific exploration and the Pacific, Portrait of Omai is an artwork of the utmost international significance.
“It is perhaps the greatest work of Britain’s greatest portraitist and the first ever grand portrait of a non-white subject. The story of Mai [Omai’s birth name] is now of more interest than ever as we seek to examine our past and understand who we are as a nation.”
Omai was born in the Society Islands and came to Britain with colleagues of Captain James Cook after the explorer’s second voyage in the Pacific.
Omai was introduced to British high society figures, meeting Samuel Johnson and King George III, and was invited to sit for Reynolds in 1776. The open letter, published in the Financial Times, added: “It is privately owned, and £50million is needed to keep it here.
“While state institutions cannot afford this sum, a work so precious can be saved through efforts to fundraise. However, this can only happen with government support.
“We therefore call on the Government unequivocally to endorse a fundraising campaign to buy the portrait and secure it for public display in Britain.”