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The Potrait of Omai

Alan Yentob tells the story of Joshua Reynolds’ portrait of Britain’s first non-white celebrity, Omai, which the Tate Gallery is fighting to keep in Britain. One of the artist’s greatest works, and the first ever grand portrait of a non-white subject, the picture captures the image of a man who became an overnight sensation in 18th-century London after being plucked from obscurity in Tahiti.