Vos (Vulpes vulpes) 1790 - 1814

This watercolor of a fox, titled "Vos (Vulpes vulpes)," is by Jacob Goethals. While undated, such images were often made to accompany natural history studies. Here, the fox sits passively in the landscape, its whiteness perhaps signifying some unique value, its capture an event worthy of record. The cool detachment of the fox's gaze reminds us that, for many, the natural world was viewed as a resource. The whiteness of the animal hints at the history of scientific racism, where gradations of color became a rubric for evaluating the human species and its proximity to the natural world. How does the artist, in his representation, reify or critique such a hierarchy? Consider the emotion that arises when the natural world is cataloged and reduced to an image. What anxieties are produced when we try to capture that which remains elusive?