Conversation Piece

I didn't preview The Conversation Piece: Scenes of Fashionable Life, an exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, because it's in Scotland and, as far as I know, I haven't any readers up there. Anyway, the show continues until 20 September (CLICK). My reason for bringing it up now is that art tutor Andrew MacKenzie is offering a Practical Art Course: Creating a Conversation Piece on 9 July, from 10am to 5pm. Tickets cost £35. I know I'm always moaning about prices, but this sounds like a bargain to me. You get to tour the exhibition, take part in a drawing workshop, eat a free lunch and paint your own conversation piece in the Palace gardens with art materials supplied. When you consider that private tutors in London are charging up to £50 an hour to get middle-class kids through their exams, £35 for a day's tuition with freebies is a snip. You must book in advance. Ring 0131 557 2500, email education@royalcollection.org.uk or click the title link for details. What does this have to do with the above reproduction of a 1st Century BC statue of Greek Wrestlers? Paintings by Johann Zoffany form the core of the exhibition, and this statue is in the background of his The Tribuna of the Uffizi (1772). See if you can spot it.