London Gallery Is Raising Millions To Buy One Of UK’s Greatest Portraits

Art aficionados with spare change in their pockets might find a way to use it as London’s National Portrait Gallery is reportedly raising funds to acquire an 18th-century painting by famed artist Joshua Reynolds. 

According to the Art Newspaper, the work—titled Portrait of Omai (1776)—is worth a staggering £50 million (US$58 million), and depicts its namesake as one of the earliest Polynesian visitors to Europe. 

Back in March, the UK government had temporarily placed a ban on the export of the work, allowing public institutions within the country to outbid one another for the masterpiece. 

However, it seems no one managed to raise enough money by July, with the deadline now extended to March 2023. Several other museums have shown interest in gaining the piece, including institutions in Greenwich and Yorkshire. 

Calling the painting “one of the greatest British portraits” ever drawn, a spokesperson for the gallery remarked the work has become “a painting of singular national, international, and cultural significance.” 

If the sale goes successfully, it will be on par with Titian’s Diana and Actaeon (1556 - 1559)—purchased by London’s National Gallery and the National Gallery of Scotland in 2009—as the most expensive work ever bought by a museum in the UK. 

At the moment, as per ARTnews, the National Portrait Gallery still remains closed, from when it first shuttered its doors in 2020. It’s undergoing a massive renovation, and will open its doors once again to the public next year, hopefully with the new addition. 

[via ARTnews and The Art Newspaper, cover image via Joshua Reynolds / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)]