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Art Works: Export Controls

Question for Department for Culture, Media and Sport

UIN HL6106, tabled on 3 March 2023

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will extend the temporary export bar placed on the Portrait of Omai by Sir Joshua Reynolds to allow additional time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire the painting.

Answered on

21 March 2023

We are in regular contact with the National Portrait Gallery and fully support their efforts to purchase this exceptional painting. In view of the strong support we have seen so far, the Government has extended the export deferral period to 10 June 2023 to provide every opportunity to save the Portrait of Omai so that the widest possible audience can see, enjoy, and learn from it for generations to come.