A famous painting of Mai is now at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. It went on show on 15 September 2026. It stays there until March 2027. The Getty and the National Portrait Gallery bought it together in 2023 for US$61 million.
Mai came from Raiatea, an island in the Pacific Ocean. He joined Captain James Cook’s second journey. He arrived in England in 1774. He was the first Pacific Islander to visit Britain.
Joshua Reynolds painted Mai in 1776. The painting is nearly eight feet tall. Reynolds showed him like an important leader from ancient Rome. Mai was not from a very powerful family. But the painting gave him the importance usually shown in pictures of rich and powerful people.
