Sugar baby

Oil on canvas, 27.5 x 19.7 inches (70 x 50 cm)
© Eva Kranitz

Inspired by an Eastern European fairy tale called The Cunning Ileane. Ileane is a beautiful and clever princess whose admirer loves and desires her very much but is not yet mature enough for a relationship of equals. He doesn’t care who she really is. Ileane knows this, and so she repeatedly teaches him a lesson and lets him fall into the trap, anticipating his next move and reacting accordingly. In the end, he storms into the bedroom in a rage and yells at Ileane, listing everything she has done to trick him.

He asks about everything, and after each “yes” answer, he lashes out with a sword at the sugar baby Ileane has put to bed for him, while she hides behind the curtains and watches. The man finally collapses in tears beside the sliced candy doll. At that moment, Ileane comes out from behind the curtain, puts her arms around him and says: “I am yours now.”