He is looking up with a piece of the rodent that he just killed, hanging out blood dripping as if he just took a huge bite. Looks almost as if the fox was howling or celebrating the killing of his meal. Letting every other animal know who the alpha male fox is around. Another view one can portray is maybe another fox came by and tried to size him up to steal his meal away. So maybe he gets into a defensive pose and lets out one of those loud, proud, in charge type of howls, saying “Just try and take this from me and see what happens”. Dallas Museum of Art wall text of Gustave Courbet; Fox in the Snow states “Depicts the animal mauling its prey, the rodent’s blood spilling onto the blanket of snow. The brutality of this image is intensified by the brilliance and directness of Courbet’s brushstroke”. I believe the artist was trying to emphasize showing the real wildlife and Mother Nature with the texture of the brush strokes making it look like it had just recently snowed. Also showing animals in the wild doing what they do best, surviving. Courbet has excellent painting technique with the texture and contrast, he shows between the fox’s fur and bushy tail with the
He is looking up with a piece of the rodent that he just killed, hanging out blood dripping as if he just took a huge bite. Looks almost as if the fox was howling or celebrating the killing of his meal. Letting every other animal know who the alpha male fox is around. Another view one can portray is maybe another fox came by and tried to size him up to steal his meal away. So maybe he gets into a defensive pose and lets out one of those loud, proud, in charge type of howls, saying “Just try and take this from me and see what happens”. Dallas Museum of Art wall text of Gustave Courbet; Fox in the Snow states “Depicts the animal mauling its prey, the rodent’s blood spilling onto the blanket of snow. The brutality of this image is intensified by the brilliance and directness of Courbet’s brushstroke”. I believe the artist was trying to emphasize showing the real wildlife and Mother Nature with the texture of the brush strokes making it look like it had just recently snowed. Also showing animals in the wild doing what they do best, surviving. Courbet has excellent painting technique with the texture and contrast, he shows between the fox’s fur and bushy tail with the