A fascinating exhibition of high-society style and manners at The Queen's Gallery in London, dating from Charles I to the reign of Queen Victoria.
The Conversation Piece at the Queen's Gallery
A family group at a tea party, friends on a fishing trip… the aim of a "conversation piece" is to show activities of daily life.
This exhibition at The Queen's Gallery in London charts the popularity of this form of group portraiture from where it began – in the Netherlands in the 17th century.
Scenes of Fashionable and Royal Life in London
Discover the immense popularity of conversation pieces in Georgian England and see how the royal family used them as early PR to highlight their "normal" family life, popularity and good values.
Highlights of the exhibition include royal conversation pieces, conversation pieces acquired by the royal family and works by the leading artists of the genre such as:
- Johan Zoffany, the greatest practitioner of the conversation piece
- William Hogarth
- Thomas Gainsborough
What to See at the Conversation Piece Exhibition
The exhibition's subjects range from wealthy merchants of the Netherlands to Charles I and his queen strolling in Greenwich Park – intended to promote his family values.
Other pieces include Joseph Nickolls' depiction of Frederick, Prince of Wales as a popular man of the people and a satire of the genre by French artist Marcellus Laroon.
Great works to look out for include:
- A Formal Garden: Three Ladies Surprised by a Gentleman, by Ludolf de Jongh
- Family Group by Barent Graat
- Charles I, Henrietta Maria and Charles, Prince of Wales, by Hendrick Pot
- A View of Greenwich, Hendrick Pot
- A Dinner Party and a Musical, by Marcellus Laroon
- The Tribuna of the Uffizi, by Johan Zoffany
- Queen Charlotte with her Two Eldest Sons, by Johan Zoffany
- Windsor Castle in Modern Times, by Sir Edwin Landseer
© Collins Bartholomew 2009
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