Animals in Art: Fox Drawings and Designs

The Fox - Vintage Collage
See gifts based on Fox Collage

The Fox in Art History

It's only recently that the Fox was depicted as a nice animal. Most of the images from the Victorian era show the animal with an angry face, as if to say to the children of the time, "beware!" Occasionally, though, the Victorians broke through their bias toward evil foxes and showed them with bright, nice faces in beautiful scenery like the advertising showing the arctic fox below.

Victorian Advertising Showing Arctic Fox

Folklore Fox

In Medieval European folklore, the fox Reynard was a fable about an anthropomorphic, trickster red fox. Renyard persists in today's literature and art images of foxes, and can be seen worldwide in advertising, comics, and current-day fables showing the fox in a man's clothing.

As a symbol, Celtics believed the fox to be wise, and a guide in the spirit world; in Japan, the fox was a rain spirit, and symbolized longevity and protection. Northern Native Americans believed the fox was wise and noble, while Plains tribes thought it was a trickster.