Fox Hunt is one of the well-known works of the renowned American artist, Winslow Homer (1836–1910).
In this ominous painting, a fox struggles through the snow in search of a meal. The Atlantic roils below, and the sky above is dark with another approaching storm. The fox has captured the attention of a flock of equally hungry crows that circle above, the nearest threatening to blot out the entire scene in blackness. It was not unusual in the long Maine winters to see a flock of crows attack a weakened fox adrift in deep snow. The red berries peeking through the snow drift provide the only relief to this somber moment.
Best known for his marine and landscape paintings, Homer was born in Boston, grew up in then-rural Cambridge, but after discovering Prout’s Neck, Maine in 1875, he built his home and studio and lived there until his death.
Homer painted Fox Hunt in 1893 in his Prout’s Neck studio. The painting returned to Prout’s Neck late last year after an absence of more than a century, when the Portland Museum of Art—now the owners of Homer’s studio—mounted an exhibition of his work. Visitors had the opportunity to see some of the very spots from which Homer painted his scenes, then were able to view the paintings. The Homer exhibition broke all previous attendance records for this 131-year-old Portland institution, which, along with the state of Maine, has long nurtured its artists.
Posted February 4, 2013