Princess with a monkey
Date: 1913 ; RigaLatvia in terms of modern geography
Art form: Painting
Dimensions: 145.5 X 69.5 cm (57.28 X 27.36 in)
The painting "Princess with Monkey" is the peak of the synthesis of academicized mimetic symbolism and Art Nouveau. A certain type of woman is characteristic of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries - she has long, loose hair, half-closed eyes and sensual lips, such a woman can be treated both as a being stuck in melancholic contemplation and as a demonic creature.
Actress Maria Leiko is considered to be the possible prototype, but it is more likely that she was a lady seen at the carnival - German-Baltic gymnast Goto Betge, someone else mentions Finnish dancer Maggie Gripenberg. In a broader sense, the depicted image of a woman fits into the broader context of European art of the beginning of the 20th century. However, there is no doubt about the identity of the monkey. Rosenthal's son Miķelis remembered: "Every morning a gypsy came to Albert Street 12 with a monkey. The father used the monkey as a model, and the gypsy received 1 ruble for each day.''
Pāvilas Gruzna, on the other hand, thought that the painting indirectly depicted the artist as a servant and plaything for fine art, which is a more common opinion, because at the turn of the 20th century the princess was a symbol of beauty, A. Brigadere and Aspazija also used it. However, the possibility that the message of the painting expresses the artist's inner experience cannot be ruled out. "The Princess and the Monkey" is painted on an ornamental background, the format of the painting is vertical, its formal solution shows the artist's passion for Japanese engraving. There are several versions of the painting (the artist varied with the details and format size). The first draft is in the charcoal and pencil technique, in the next stage it is drawn on paper and duplicated on cardboard.
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