The UK has extended the ban on Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait Of Omai, as National Portrait Gallery gets more time to raise funds to acquire.
This is the second time the UK government has extended the export ban on the painting, starting from August last year. The ban lapsed on 10th March, but negotiations continued with National Portrait Gallery – which is trying to acquire it. The NPG is trying to raise £50 million (USD 58 million) – the amount necessary to match its export value and acquire. So far, it has reportedly been able to raise half of the amount. The negotiations with the government bore results today, when Stephen Parkinson (Art Minister, United Kingdom) announced that the ban will continue for a few more weeks as NPG will try to raise the required funds. Parkinson said that he is “all the more determined to ensure that we can save it for public display so that the widest possible audience can see, enjoy and learn from it”.
“Portrait of Omai” is a 1776 painting by English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. The subject of the painting was Omai, a Polynesian who was the second Pacific Islander to ever visit England. The painting was auctioned as part of the estate of George Howard, a Baron, by his son in 1984. In 2001 at a Sotheby’s auction, it was bought by John Magnier but was denied an export license. Since then, the painting has been the subject of frequent appeals and rejections. When it seemed likely that the work would finally be exported in 2022, National Portrait Gallery sought to raise funds and appealed to temporarily ban the export.
So far, National Portrait Gallery has been supported by National Heritage Memorial Fund (which gave a £10 million grant) and Art Fund (which pledged £2.5 million). It is currently in talks with the Getty Museum in the US to raise the remaining funds. As part of the deal, the two museums would get to display the work in turns every 5 years.
