Fox in the Snow
1860
Gustave Courbet, the champion of Realism, famously refused to paint things he couldn't see—like angels—preferring the raw truth of nature instead. In this intense winter scene, a red fox is caught mid-pounce, its body stretched long against the snow as it snaps up a small rodent with bared teeth. Courbet was an avid hunter, which gave him a front-row seat to these brutal, unromanticized moments of survival in the French countryside, far from the polished subjects of academic art.
- Technique
- Oil on canvas
Location: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
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