Save Omai!
June 29 2022
Picture: NPG
A group of historians and art world luminaries have called on the government to do more to prevent Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Omai from being exported from the UK. The list includes David Olusaga and the former arts minister Lord Vaizey. The picture was export stopped three months ago, with a figure of £50m required as a matching offer. The question now is whether there is any sign of a bid being made, which would justify a further three month stop.
I don't know, but I would assume the call for government help is being made because no institution has felt able to fundraise such an enormous sum. The picture was sold at Sotheby's in 2001 from Castle Howard for £10m. So it is now valued at five times as much, which doubtless reflects both the evolution of the art market, and rising interest in depictions of non-white subjects in western art. It may sound like a steep rise, but I think it's probably a fair valuation. Reading between the lines of the original DCMS press notice on the painting, it has not been sold, rather the owner - said to the Irish billionaire, John Magnier - has applied to export it.
Of course it would be wonderful if the painting could be bought by a UK public institution. But £50m is surely out of reach of UK museums, especially at times like this. More here from James Pickford and George Parker in the FT, and read the text of the letter here.
