Untitled (animals in zoo band; a monkey playing the triangle) c. 1950

Curator: This is an untitled work by Jack Gould, found here at the Harvard Art Museums. It's part of a series called "animals in zoo band," and here we see a monkey playing the triangle. Editor: It's immediately striking, isn't it? There's a certain melancholy to it. The inverted tones and the monkey’s expression… it feels quite poignant. Curator: Indeed. Consider the context of zoos and their role in shaping human-animal relations. Gould’s work invites us to reflect on these constructed environments. Editor: Absolutely. And the very act of anthropomorphizing the monkey, dressing it in human clothes and giving it a musical instrument, speaks volumes about our desire to control and understand the natural world. Curator: It also mirrors early 20th-century fascination with animal intelligence and the performance of exoticism for human entertainment. Editor: Right. I am left thinking about the power dynamics at play, who gets to create art, and whose stories are amplified. Curator: Indeed, a single image opens up a lot of space for reflection. Editor: It certainly does. Hopefully, visitors find it as thought-provoking as we do.