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| Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Mai (detail), about 1776. National Portrait Gallery, London, and Getty Museum |
Joshua Reynold's Portrait of Mai will appear at the Getty for the first time this fall. The painting of a Polynesian visitor to 18th-century London was purchased jointly by the National Portrait Gallery (UK) and the Getty for $62 million in 2023. Mai is to alternate between the institutions. It was shown at the National Portrait Gallery shortly after the purchase and made a tour of regional UK museums in 2025–2026.
At the Getty, Mai will anchor an installation of Enlightenment portraits by Gainsborough, Goya, and David. "Joshua Reynolds's Portrait of Mai and 18th-Century Portraiture" will open Sep, 15, 2026, and run until the Getty Center closes for refurbishment Mar. 15, 2027. The Center is to reopen, with Mai, in time for the 2028 Olympics.
Below, photos from Mai's UK tour.
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| Mai at the National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| At Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The visitors seem to be making light of the notoriously inauthentic turban that Reynolds invented for Mai |
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| Fitzwilliam installation view |
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| Entrance to exhibition at The Box, Plymouth |
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| Installation at The Box |
Comments
> The Box is so
> much more
> civilized
https://imagedelivery.net/tbIWbJKEj9qx0hkgQ6WRMA/978ee9e8-2ba2-443e-fdbc-a7d0333d6700/logo
Not sure if it's actually sarcasm praising an installation in The Box (metal-mesh wall, meet gray-concrete wall), whatever the heck that museum is.
Brown/Pereira, Govan/Zumthor and 1965-2026 in general have long been a case of, "that's LACMA for 'ya." But I wonder if the museum in Plymouth, almost 200 miles south of London, is a case of, "that's The Box for 'ya"?
I also wonder if the director of The Box (per website: Victoria Pomery) doesn't bother making sure major objects in its collection are on public display too instead of storage?
If so, Victoria, meet Michael Govan. Michael, meet Victoria Pomery.