"The Fox, also known as The Blue and Black Fox, is one of Franz Marc's (1880–1916) most important works from the period up to 1912 and is perhaps the most popular painting in the Von der Heydt Museum's collection.
The picture is dominated by the curved form of a crouching fox. The animal's blue to violet-black body merges with the intensely coloured blue, red, yellow and green areas of the suggested landscape to form an indissoluble whole. Although the design focuses entirely on the surface, the essence of the fox is captured with precision: The flowing, soft lines convey the animal's suppleness and intelligence.
The "Fox" is the result of Marc's longstanding quest to capture animals analytically: "Very early on, I felt that man was 'ugly'; the animal seemed to me more beautiful, more pure".
From 1907, the Expressionist painter devoted himself almost exclusively to depicting animals, trying to get from their external form to their inner essence, while at the same time studying colour theories and describing his own observations: he interpreted blue as "the male principle, hard and spiritual", yellow as "the female colour" and red as "matter, which is fought against by the other two". The pure colours of his paintings are therefore to be understood symbolically and convey an enraptured mood in which the fox seems to rest. In terms of the development of autonomous colour, detached from the object, The Fox is a milestone in modern painting.
- Material & Technik
- Öl auf Leinwand
- Museum
- Von der Heydt Museum
- Datierung
- 1911
- Inventarnummer
- G 0686