Sunday, September 20, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Getty Center, Los Angeles
Coinciding with the US debut of Sir Joshua Reynolds’s *Portrait of Mai*, this conversation explores Reynolds’s painting and its extraordinary subject, Mai, the first Polynesian to visit England. Join author and historian Hampton Sides and Getty's associate director of collections Richard Rand to hear about Reynold’s making of the full-length portrait, Mai’s time in England from 1774-76, and his return voyage to Tahiti on Captain James Cook's final voyage. For in-person attendees, a book signing with Hampton Sides follows this talk. His celebrated book, *The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook* (2024), will be available for purchase both before and after the program.