conversation piece

A conversation piece refers to a group portrait in a domestic or landscape setting depicting persons chatting or otherwise socializing with each other. The persons depicted may be members of a family as well as friends, members of a society or hunt, or some other grouping who are shown sharing common activities such as hunts, meals, or musical parties. It was an especially popular genre in 18th-century England, beginning from the 1720s, largely due to the influence of William Hogarth. Similar paintings can also be found in other periods and outside of England. The setting of various figures "conversing" in an intimate setting appears to call for small-scale paintings, but some artists treated this subject manner in the Grand Manner, with almost life-size figures. Term and Origins The term derives from the Latin word 'conversatio' and was related to the French 'conversation', the Italian 'conversazione' and the Flemish/Dutch 'conversatie'. In the 17th century Habsburg Netherlands 'conversatie' described paintings of informal groups. In 1629 Rubens referred to a group of women as a 'conversatie van jouffrouwen' ('conversation of ladies', also known as conversatie à la mode and The Garden of Love (Prado)). In 1670s Antwerp the low-life genre scenes of Adriaen Brouwer and Joos van Craesbeeck as well as the more elegant dance and social gatherings by Hieronymus Janssens and Christoffel Jacobsz van der Laemen were referred to as 'conversaties' and 'conversations'. In England the term 'conversation' or 'conversation piece' was first used at the end of the 17th century to describe unpretentious narrative or anecdotal pictures in the Flemish/Dutch style. Somewhat later it was also used for Antoine Watteau's fêtes galantes. Only in 1730 it was used in England for the type of small-scale intimate portrait paintings painted by British painters such as Gawen Hamilton. The conversation piece's primary characteristic of representing a private interaction were already present in 15th-century paintings such as Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait (1434) and Andrea Mantegna's Lodovico Gonzaga with his Family (1471). The genre developed from 17th century portraiture in the Low Countries. The compositions of merrymaking companies (vrolijk gezelschap) and garden parties (buitenpartij) painted by artists such as Dirck Hals, David Vinckbooms, Adriaen van de Venne and Willem Buytewech were an important influence on the genre.