Americans can now see a famous portrait of the Pacific Islander who captivated 18th-century England for the first time

By Saar Shahar, PhD Candidate in English, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, The Conversation · October 12, 2026

Joshua Reynolds’ 1776 ‘Portrait of Omai’ portrays a commoner from Tahiti as a nobleman, reflecting European fantasies and assumptions about Pacific cultures.

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