Bruno Liljefors

The fox appears as a motif in Bruno Liljefors's work at a very early stage. Like the cat, another of the artist's favourite animals, the fox was a graceful and agile predator, constantly on the hunt for prey.

An important source of inspiration in his youth was Carl Friedrich Deiker, who served as Liljefors's mentor in animal painting when he studied in Düsseldorf. In 1882, Liljefors mentions his teacher in a letter: "I have been introduced to a superb animal painter, Professor Deyker, a genial old fellow, a tremendous hunter besides, with a bunch of wild boar tusks and the like dangling from his watch chain, presumably as trophies from some comical exploit in the woods. On the walls, he has about 20-30 rifles, knives, horns, bags, and all sorts of things, stuffed goshawks fighting, elk and deer antlers, and heaps of furs. He paints excellent things. I was really delighted with his paintings, and I have been thinking of painting for him for a while."

Liljefors had arrived in Düsseldorf shortly after his departure from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. The departure was entirely in keeping with the spirit of the times; student revolts against the academies characterised art education across Europe towards the end of the 19th century. The academies imposed too much constraint on the students through their approach to teaching, the aspiring artists claimed.

Liljefors had begun his studies at the Academy in 1879 and had as a peer Anders Zorn, who was of the same age but already had a couple of years of study behind him. Zorn wanted to leave the academy, and Liljefors soon agreed with him. Neither of them could see that they had anything to learn from drawing from plaster casts of antiquity. Furthermore, naked models were poor subjects, especially if one wanted to paint foxes, which Zorn pointed out to Liljefors. However, Liljefors seems to have appreciated P.D. Holm—teacher in landscape painting—which perhaps came naturally considering that Holm had previously contemplated becoming an animal painter and had also trained as a taxidermist.

Later, however, Liljefors stated that he learned more from his fellow student Zorn than from the professors at the academy. K.E. Russow recounts in "Bruno Liljefors. A Study," 1929, the following memory: "Liljefors readily admits that he has much to thank his peers for, especially Anders Zorn, with whom he often exchanged thoughts on the art of painting. Zorn was the first among his peers who fully dared to trust the saying: If the values are correct, one believes one sees the details of reality. Very humorously, Liljefors once recounted that he had painted a fox with great care; Zorn also saw this painting and remarked: 'It looks as if the hairs were glued on him.' He took a pad of drawing paper and painted something on it with a lot of watercolour and plenty of water. During the conversation, he seemingly carelessly balanced the pad back and forth, so that Liljefors thought he was up to some joke, but when the sheet was dry, one could see a masterfully painted fox skin. Liljefors admits that this demonstration, which clearly showed 'how one must see a thing,' made a deep impression on him."