Portrait of Polynesian man travels to U.S. for first time

In Los Angeles, the Getty Museum is now displaying a large 18th-century portrait of Mai, a young Polynesian man from Raiatea who became well-known in Britain after joining an expedition with explorer James Cook.

Mai travelled to England in 1774 aboard the HMS Adventure, becoming the first person from Polynesia to visit the country. Joseph Banks, a botanist, sponsored Mai’s stay, introducing him to British high society where he was often mistaken for a royal.

Artist Joshua Reynolds painted Mai around 1776, portraying him in a style that combined Polynesian dress with Roman imagery. Reynolds valued the painting highly and kept it in his studio until his death, after which it entered a private collection for roughly two centuries. Recently, the painting was purchased jointly by the National Portrait Gallery in London and the J. Paul Getty Trust for around $62 million after the British government temporarily blocked its sale to a foreign buyer.

The two institutions will share ownership, periodically moving the portrait between the U.S. and Britain. Conservators studying the painting discovered evidence that Reynolds repeatedly revised the work, adding layers of paint and continually refining the composition. The portrait will be on display at the Getty Museum until 2027.