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The Sir Joshua Reynolds painting, acquired in a joint deal by the Getty and the National Portrait Gallery in London after a heated controversy, will be on display starting September 14.

Conservators performing a technical analysis of Joshua Reynolds's "Portrait of Mai (Omai)" (c. 1776) (all photos courtesy J. Paul Getty Trust)

Sir Joshua Reynolds's celebrated "Portrait of Mai (Omai)" (c. 1776) will be displayed at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles beginning on September 14, four years after it was subjected to a 15-month export ban issued by the United Kingdom to protect it from foreign sale. The work has undergone comprehensive technical analysis ahead of its United States debut, revealing new insights about the painter's technique.

In a rare move, the Getty and the National Portrait Gallery secured shared ownership of the work in 2023, with each institution paying half of the £50 million price tag ($61 million at the time). 

Conservators from the Getty and the National Portrait Gallery in London began analyzing the nearly eight-foot-long painting with flashlights and imaging technology after it arrived at the California museum in July. Over five weeks, the researchers discovered an array of pigments used by the artist and identified areas where he reworked the composition, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by Hyperallergic.

Conservators zooming in on parts of the canvas at the Getty's Paintings Conservation Studio

"Initial observations and results brought to light Reynolds’ use of thick and textured paint in certain areas of the painting, showing he reworked those parts of the composition with multiple colors and layers," a Getty spokesperson told Hyperallergic. Those areas include Mai's head and his intricately tattooed hands.

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