By Hannah Spence
Palm Beach has long been a playground for the powerful, but artist Serge Strosberg, a Belgian-born painter who now calls South Florida home, is giving its icons a mischievous new twist. His latest series, Monkeying Around Palm Beach, transforms the island’s legendary figures not as moguls and magnates, but as monkeys.
At the heart of the series is Johnnie Brown, the beloved pet spider monkey of architect Addison Mizner, who helped define Palm Beach’s Mediterranean Revival style in the early 1900s. Johnnie was often perched on Mizner’s shoulder as he mingled with high society, becoming nearly as recognizable as his eccentric owner. When Johnnie died in 1927, Mizner buried him in the courtyard of what is now the Al Fresco restaurant at the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course, where a small headstone still marks his resting place.
Nearly a century later, Strosberg found himself dining at that very restaurant with his gallerist when inspiration struck. “I noticed Johnnie Brown’s grave in the courtyard,” he recalls. “I decided this poor little monkey should have an oil portrait.”
The first painting in the series, Monkey Business at the Colony, imagines Johnnie Brown as a dapper bon vivant lounging outside the Colony Hotel, martini in hand, dressed in a sharp suit and sunglasses. From there, the idea evolved into a full cast of characters: Henry Flagler, the railroad baron who built The Breakers and opened Florida’s east coast to prosperity; Marjorie Merriweather Post, the cereal heiress and creator of Mar-a-Lago; and Mizner himself, all portrayed as charismatic, anthropomorphic monkeys.
“I wanted to reinterpret Palm Beach’s history—The Breakers, The Colony, the flag—and make it more accessible through visually striking portraits,” Strosberg says.
Born in Belgium and trained at Paris’s prestigious Académie Julian, Strosberg moved to Palm Beach full-time in 2018 with his wife and twin sons. His art, known for its lush color, layered storytelling, and sly humor, has been exhibited at the Lighthouse ArtCenter, Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, and the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. His past subjects include civil rights leader Solomon Spady, pioneering businessman J. Turner Moore, and federal judge Daniel Hurley.
The Monkeying Around Palm Beach collection has quickly become one of the most successful locally produced art series in recent years, with original oils selling for more than $15,000 and collectors from Miami to Atlanta acquiring limited editions. Interior designers have embraced the work for its playful sophistication—pieces that add a sense of wit and whimsy to even the most traditional Palm Beach interiors.
And while his subjects may be simian, no monkeys were harmed in the making of the art. Strosberg’s process relies on technology, not taxidermy, to bring them to life. He begins by generating AI-based sketches, refining them digitally before translating them to canvas. “It took hundreds of trials,” he says. “The first monkeys looked scary. Eventually, I got something I liked, but it was cold and flat. So I used it as a starting point, then painted it traditionally with oils.”
His method blends the precision of a contemporary eye with the discipline of historic technique. Strosberg paints in oil and egg tempera on canvas, a demanding process that traces back to the German Expressionists of the 1930s, including Otto Dix. “Very few contemporary artists use it,” he says. “It takes years to master.” He learned the process in Paris from German painter Jörg Hermle, born in Berlin in 1933. The technique relies on an emulsion made with real eggs to create luminous highlights and an oil-based medium for deep shadows, resulting in vivid color and dramatic contrast. Strosberg still works with pigments he purchased two decades ago in Rome, achieving the layered richness and light that have become his signature.
When asked why Palm Beach inspires him so deeply, Strosberg points to both its atmosphere and architecture. “The light is beautiful here—in all of Florida, really—but especially Palm Beach,” he says. “For a figurative or portrait artist, it’s special. The tropical environment, the European-influenced architecture, the history—it’s inspiring.”
That balance between nostalgia and modernity defines Monkeying Around Palm Beach. While the series began with Mizner and Johnnie Brown, it also nods to a long, whimsical tradition. “There were many societies, not just Mizner, who owned pet monkeys in the 1920s,” Strosberg explains. “You see monkeys in sculptures, murals, even architectural motifs. They’ve always been part of Palm Beach. But I made it contemporary—something that hadn’t been done before.”
Original works are available at Surovek Gallery, and this month Jennifer Balcos Gallery will host a solo exhibition featuring limited editions on paper and canvas. In January 2026, the Monkeying Around Palm Beach collection will be showcased at South Palm Beach Town Hall, the Mandel JCC in Palm Beach Gardens, and Monkey Bar at The Boca Raton—a fitting tribute within one of Mizner’s own architectural masterpieces.
As for the historical figures he’s “monkeying around” with, Strosberg says he chose those who embodied boldness and reinvention. “They were visionaries,” he says. “They weren’t afraid to change things, even in controversial ways.” He pauses, then smiles. “I think they’d appreciate what I’m doing.”
