NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY CUTS DEAL FOR REYNOLDS PORTRAIT

THE National Portrait Gallery has agreed a deal with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles to join together to buy Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Portrait of Omai.

The plan will see the eight foot painting, right, shared between the institutions with them splitting its £50 million cost. That leaves the gallery needing to raise £1 million so it can complete its side of the bargain. If successful, the portrait will go on show in London first this year before travelling between the two countries.