A FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO HIGH-SOCIETY STYLE AND MANNERS, FROM THE TIME OF CHARLES I TO THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, IS PRESENTED AT THE QUEEN'S GALLERY IN BUCKINGHAM PALACE,LONDON, IN A STUNNING EXHIBITION ENTITLED 'THE CONVERSATION PIECE: SCENES OF FASHIONABLE LIFE'. TYPICALLY A CONVERSATION PIECE SHOWS A FAMILY GROUP OR A GATHERING OF FRIENDS PARTICIPATING IN INFORMAL ACTIVITIES, PERHAPS AT A TEA PARTY, ON A FISHING TRIP OR AT A DINING CLUB. WHILE A PORTRAIT PRIMARILY RECORDS THE SITTER'S APPEARANCE, THE CONVERSATION PIECE DEPICTS THEIR WAY OF LIFE. THE EXHIBITION TRACES THE ROOTS OF THE CONVERSATION PIECE BACK TO THE NETHERLANDS IN THE 17th CENTURY AND TO THE WORK OF ARTISTS AS PIETER DE HOOCH AND GODFRIED SCHALCKEN. THIS FORM OF GROUP PORTRAITURE REACHED THE HEIGHT OF ITS POPULARITY IN GEORGIAN ENGLAND, AND THE EXHIBITION INCLUDES OUTSTANDING PAINTINGS BY THE GREATEST EXPONENTS OF THE CONVERSATION PIECE, JOHAN ZOFFANY, WILLIAM HOGARTH AND THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH. TO COMPLEMENT THE SELECTION OF ROYAL CONVERSATION PIECES, THE EXHIBITION SHOWS EXAMPLES OF THE GENRE ACQUIRED BY MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OVER THE PAST FOUR CENTURIES.
THE CENTERPIECE OF THE EXHIBITION IS A GROUP OF WORKS BY ZOFFANY, PERHAPS THE GREATEST PRACTITIONER OF THE CONVERSATION PIECE. A GERMAN BORN PAINTER WHO SETTLED IN ENGLAND, ZOFFANY WAS A FAVORITE OF GEORGE III AND PAINTED NUMEROUS WORKS FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY. THE KING AND HIS CONSORT, QUEEN CHARLOTTE, COMMISSIONED THE ARTIST TO CELEBRATE THE VIRTUES OF 'NORMAL' FAMILY LIFE. IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE WITH HER TWO ELDEST SONS, ZOFFANY SHOWS THE LAVISHLY ATTIRED QUEEN AS AN ATTENTIVE MOTHER WITH HER CHILDREN AND THE FAMILY DOG GATHERED AROUND HER. THE EXHIBITION INCLUDES ZOFFANY'S GREATEST PAINTING, 'THE TRIBUNA OF THE UFFIZI', IN WHICH A DISTINGUISHED GATHERING OF ARISTOCRATS, ARTISTS AND GRAND TOURISTS ARE SET AGAINST A DAZZLING ASSEMBLAGE OF MASTERPIECES.
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