Portrait of Mai, a Monumental Reynolds, Visits the U.S.

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentA huge eighteenth-century portrait of a young Polynesian man named Mai is visiting the United States for the first time, Smithsonian Magazine reports.

2. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentMai was the first Pacific Islander to visit Britain, after joining the expedition of explorer James Cook, and he became a quasi-celebrity in the seventeen-seventies.

3. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo he was the first guy to blow up off a trip abroad. Sailed home, got assumed famous, never posted a correction. Textbook creator.

4. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThere were no brand deals, Kenji. That is mistake number forty on my list.

5. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe painting is by Reynolds, about ninety by fifty-seven inches, nearly eight feet tall.

6. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentEight feet? That's a poster for the whole city. He's barefoot in a white turban with tattoos on his hands. The fit is unreal.

7. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentHere is the catch. Many Britons assumed Mai was a Polynesian royal, and he did little to correct it.

8. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentNobody verified anything in seventeen seventy-four either.

9. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA fake blue check, but in oil paint.

10. 

    Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentAnd the National Portrait Gallery and the Getty split a roughly sixty-two million dollar price tag in twenty twenty-three. That is one expensive profile picture.

11. 

    Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentIt is nearly eight feet tall, Kenji, and it still gets fewer comments than I will.

12. 

    Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe painting is on display at the Getty Center through March, then heads to the Getty Villa before returning for the two thousand twenty-eight Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.