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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
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Omai
Biography
Omai (Mai) (c. 1750-1778), the first Polynesian to visit Britain, was a young man of middling social standing who volunteered to sail from Huahine to England with Captain Furneaux on the Adventure (the ship accompanying James Cook's Resolution on Cook's second voyage of discovery (1772-1775).
2 portraits in the collection
Omai, 1777
James Caldwall after William Hodges
Portrait, copper-line engraving on paper
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Omai, A Native of Ulaietea, 1774
Francesco Bartolozzi after Nathaniel Dance
Portrait, engraving on paper
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Biography
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), acknowledged as one of the world's great portraitists, was master of portraits in the 'Grand Manner', replete with moral and heroic symbolism.
3 portraits in the collection
Cook in context
Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007
Robert Oatley's continuing benefaction has helped the National Portrait Gallery acquire works that add another layer to the story of Captain Cook.
Rethinking foundational histories
Magazine article by Kate Fullagar, 2019
A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.
First encounters
Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011
Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.