‘Portrait of Omai’ and the fight to keep vital pieces of art in the UK

As a deadline passes for the National Portrait Gallery to fundraise for Sir Joshua Reynolds’s masterpiece, David Lister looks at the history of the regal painting and suggests the government should step in to save it

‘Portrait of Omai’ depicts the first Polynesian visitor to the UK and is an important piece of Black British history (PA)

A painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery is in danger of being sold abroad. It would be a national tragedy. The Portrait of Omai (c1776) depicts Mai, the first Polynesian to visit Britain. Mai, or Omai or Omiah (all three names have been used over the centuries) gazes out of the painting with supreme confidence. He is Black, turbaned, barefoot, and dressed in flowing robes with tattoos on his hands, with the Arcadian landscape endowing an idealised romanticism to an already noble-looking subject. He may not be how some imagine an eminent member of Georgian high society would look. Yet that is precisely what this handsome and intriguing young man was.

It is, to put it mildly, a striking portrait. The National Portrait Gallery is desperately trying to raise the money to keep it in the UK. But the deadline for the gallery to stump up the cash of £50m came to an end on Friday – and so far they have only raised half the amount. Although there are suggestions an extension to the temporary export bar could be offered by the government.

The majestic painting – the first major portrait of a Black person – is owned by John Magnier. The billionaire businessman and Ireland’s leading thoroughbred stud owner is a huge figure in racing circles and is married to Susan O’Brien, a collector of art and the daughter of the racehorse trainer Vincent O’Brien. Magnier once owned a substantial stake in Manchester United and was friends with Sir Alex Ferguson, a friendship that ended in a legal dispute over a £200m racehorse.