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Notes
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William Parry, the Welsh artist, painted this shortly after the completion of Cook’s second Voyage of exploration. Omai, a native of Tahiti, had come to England in Cook’s sister ship 'Adventure', the first Pacific islander to do so. Sir Joseph Banks quickly took charge of Omai and introduced him in London society. Banks and Dr Daniel Solander, the Swedish botanist, had accompanied Cook on his first Voyage. The painting encapsulates a critical moment in the exploration of the Pacific. It shows the enormous European interest in previously undiscovered lands, and in the way that learning crossed international boundaries. The depiction invites one to imagine that Banks is either introducing Omai to European society, or even perhaps inviting Solander to classify him as a specimen in the same way as a new species of flower would be added to the established taxonomy.
When not on display in Whitby, the painting is shown by our co-owners, the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Cardiff.
Captain Cook Memorial Museum
Whitby
Title
Omai (c.1753–c.1776/1777), Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820), and Dr Daniel Solander (1736–1782)
Date
c.1775–1776
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 150 x W 150 cm
Accession number
WHICC.10240
Acquisition method
purchased jointly with the National Museum and Gallery, Cardiff and the National Portrait Gallery, London, with the generous help of a private benefactor, the Normanby Trust, the National Art Collections Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Flora Frazer and Peter Soros, Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Linda L. Brownrigg, Randolph and Lara Lerner, Jon and Lillian Lovelace, the Clore Foundation, Sir Henry Djanogly, Hans and Märit Rausing, Lawrence Banks, the Swan Trust, Amanda Sebestyen, Sir David Attenborough, Lord Plymouth, Lord Windsor and many other donations, 2003
Work type
Painting
Captain Cook Memorial Museum
Grape Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO22 4BA England
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Omai (c.1753–c.1776/1777), Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820), and Dr Daniel Solander (1736–1782) Captain Cook Memorial Museum -
Robert Howell Vaughan, Aged c.60 National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff -
Portrait of a Boy, John Parry of Gardden (b.1777) National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff -
John Parry the Blind Harpist, with an Assistant National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff -
Anne Vaughan, Aged c.53 National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff -
Watkin E. Wynne (1755–1796) National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff -
The Blind Harpist, John Parry (1710?–1782) National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff - 4 more