It's a big picture, it's a full length, and Omai, who was the first Tahitian to come

to Britain, sat to the artist Joshua Reynolds in 1776 thereabouts, and you will be seeing

him in all his Tahitian glory. So he's wearing an almost entirely white and cream sort

of series of robes and a turban. Omai sounds magnificent. He's sweeping through a landscape,

and it's a tropical landscape because behind him are a couple of model-like palm trees,

and he's very much in command of his space, and Reynolds is presenting him as this slightly

exotic but very much a commanding presence. Reynolds is Sir Joshua Reynolds, one of the most

important artists produced by these islands. The 18th century picture is one of the first portraits

where the sole subject is a person of colour. The chances are, however, you'll never have heard

of it let alone see it. I love this kind of thing, but I never had. That's because for almost

18 years it's mostly been in storage somewhere in the country, and over those years several

attempts have been made to stop it from leaving the UK. In Britain we have quite strict rules

about the export of cultural works of art, especially if they're deemed of national interest,

which this was immediately. But the latest and possibly final ban on exporting the painting

is about to expire on the 10th of March. To keep it here, someone has to buy it, and the price tag

for that is, wait for it, £50m. If nobody raises the money, then that's it. He can take it away.

The clock is ticking away. We only have until next week to save it for the nation.

Question is, will we be able to?

You're listening to stories of our times and the times and the Sunday times. I'm David Aronovich.

Today, the portrait of Amai, Britain's first grand portrait of a person of colour,

and the risk of losing it forever.

I'm Bindle Groven. I'm an art historian. I used to be an art dealer. And if I have a specialist

...