Hi, society

Social historians and art buffs should find something to interest them at The Conversation Piece: Scenes of Fashionable Life, a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace in London. A “Conversation Piece” is a painting depicting a group of people, usually from the upper classes, in an informal situation such as a dinner party. The exhibition traces the history of this form of group portraiture from its origins in the Dutch Republic in the 17th century to its heyday in Georgian and Victorian England and will feature notable works by Johann Zoffany, William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough and Edwin Landseer. “Conversation Pieces” enabled royals and aristocrats to project an idealised image of themselves and their lives to the public but they also afford modern audiences an insight into the attitudes and ideals held by the elites of previous centuries. The paintings also demonstrate changing fashions in clothing and interior design.

Buckingham Palace, London, from Friday until February 14, tel: +44 (0)20-7766 7301, www.royalcollection.org.uk

On beauty

A quest for beauty and quality is the guiding idea behind Fruit and Flowers, a London exhibition of art and design that focuses as much on contemporary society as on aesthetics. The show will feature a number of pieces of furniture, particularly chairs, inspired by natural forms. Prints and paintings will also appear, as will two classic cars, the Mini ERA and a 1976 Daimler. Exhibitors include Zaha Hadid.

‘Fruit and Flowers’, Rove Gallery, Hoxton Square, London, until December 23, tel: +44 (0)7979-408 914, www.rovetv.net

Movers and shakers

Gather up the Fragments is a comprehensive collection of Shaker objects and includes some items never previously exhibited. The exhibition, at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum in California, will feature Shaker manuscripts, pictures, furniture, textiles and crafts.

‘Gather up the Fragments: The Shaker Collection’, Fresno Metropolitan Museum, California, until January 10, tel: +1 559-441 1444, www.fresnomet.org