Mythology and Foxes

There are myths from all over the world featuring foxes that portray the animal in different lights and has led to public opinions on the fox based more on the supernatural than the natural.

One set of myths, which was already touched upon in the art blog, is the fox in Asian culture, particularly Japan, China, and Korea.  Kitsune, which translates to fox, are seen as magical creatures, that can change their forms, and are portrayed as tricksters, guardians, evil, and benevolent.  They were, and still are, thought to be messengers of the gods, and are treated mostly with respect.  The fox god of Japan is Inari, who is also god of entertainers, blacksmiths and rice cultivation.  She uses foxes as messengers and can be seen as both benevolent and anger.


By: Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Native American's have many legends with foxes.  Many of the tribes having different stories leads to many different thoughts on the fox.  However, a common theme is that they are seen as wise, smart, and tricky, as told in the Iroquois myth The Hungry Fox and the Boastful Suitor.  This story is about a man with food who doesn't feed the hungry fox, so the fox tricks him into losing his food by singing.

Sources:

http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/kitsune.html  (Just a list of some myths from multiple cultures)

http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore26.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/284487/Inari
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune

The Red Fox in Folklore and Literature

Near every kind of animal has been featured in stories, whether through folklore or literature, and the red fox is not exempt from this.  The common theme of foxes in these tales is that they are represented as intelligent and cunning.

For example, in the very old Aesop's Fables, a compilation of stories that feature animals with human characteristics and teaches morality, emotions, and behavior.  In over the 600 stories in the Fables, the fox is a main character in 51 of them.  One of the stories is The Fox and the Crow, where a fox tricks a crow with food to drop it due to flattery.  These story shows how the fox takes a side route to reach its goals, rather than confront an issue head on, and uses trickery, cleverness, and deceit to attain its goals.  This idea of foxes is prevalent in most of the fables with foxes, and is probably the influence for the thought that foxes are smart and cunning.

George Flyer Townsend
1867

In Europe, there was a fox character named Reynard (various names over different countries) who was often portrayed as a Robin Hood type antihero in a world of animals.  The stories start in the mid 1100's and go through to the present, although they are not very frequent anymore.  These stories are often satire of the country that the story is created in.  Originally, they were written in England and were reference to the clergy and noblemen who ran the country (featured as other animals), and the commoners' day to day lives and struggles.  Reynard has left a strong impact on literature, as seen by the character lasting for near a millenia, and his impact can be seen in more recent years in the Disney movie "Robin Hood", books, such as The Magician King, and even in music.

By: Michael Rodenge
1869

Sources:
http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/red_fox.html#film
http://www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-fox-and-the-crow.htm
http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/townsend/95.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynard

Foxes in Art

Since the cave paintings of many thousands of years ago, there have been animals depicted in art.  The same goes for Vulpes vujlpes, though not for quite that long.

Most art captures how the fox was viewed at that particular time in history.  As brought up before, foxes were often hunted for sport in different places in Europe for centuries, and have only recently been made illegal.  The act of the fox hunt was viewed as a nobleman activity, and had a large amount of art created for it, such as this example.

By Henry Thomas Alken
Early 1800's

While the fox was viewed as a hunting item in Europe, in Asia, particularly Japan, they were viewed as spirits, either capable of good or evil.  Foxes, or kitsunes, were known to be able to change into humans, normally females to trick humans.

By: Yoshitoshi
1886

In recent times, foxes have taken on many different roles in art, and can be seen everywhere in art, and in different forms.  These pieces featuring foxes can be done to look realistic, bringing the viewer closer to nature, they can be seen heavily anthropomorphized, and even talking in comics, or there are recreations of styles done in earlier times, like Japanese.
Here are a few examples, but look through the internet and you will see the immense multitude of modern art featuring foxes.

Paul Krapf


Steven Womack


SilentReaper @ Deviantart


Sources:
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/hunting-scene-henry-thomas-alken.html
http://www.theartofjapan.com/ArtDetail.asp?Inv=1006922
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/young-red-paul-krapf.html
http://society6.com/product/Fox_Print#1=45
http://silentreaper.deviantart.com/