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The existential backdrop of this painting is the tragic history of the Jewish community in Lithuania in the early decades of the twentieth century. These period of intense political turmoil saw hundreds of thousands of people being forced to leave Lithuania and seek refuge elsewhere.

Discussions on emigrating: Last Tea Party in Riga offers a glimpse of a moment prior departure, a moment marked by farewell acts and decisions which, in Alexander’s account, would affect the lives of future generations. A family - Alexander’s husband’s family, in fact - gathers to decide who will be leaving and who will be staying. The simplicity of the scene makes the group portrait look cruel and dramatic. The colour scheme, too, emphasises the idea of coldness, sadness and loneliness. Alexander’s painting captures a real moment, an instant in history, but in a manner different than photography, the absence of details enhances its emotional significance.

The painting relates closely to Alexander’s artist residency in Lithuania in 2001, which led to the project “Once Upon a Time in Lithuania”. On this experience she wrote: “I felt intensely the presence of the Jews that once lived there, the homes they lived in, the things they must have done and the places they visited, and there is a sense that I am commemorating their lives here”.