Artwork
Fox-hound and Pups
Fox-hound and Pups is a watercolor work on paper by the Impressionist artist John Sargent Noble. It dates from 1885 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Fox-hound and Pups is a 1885 watercolour by John Sargent Noble, featuring a resting fox-hound surrounded by its four puppies, executed with expressive, loose brushstrokes on a simple background.
Subject & Meaning
The artwork captures an intimate moment of a mother fox-hound with her newborn pups, conveying a sense of natural, unposed domesticity. The visible water droplets on the pups imply a recently birthed litter.
Technique & Style
Noble employed quick, loose strokes to evoke fur texture and movement, set against a subdued, lightly suggested interior of a rough floor and pale wall, focusing on the subjects' immediacy.
History & Provenance
Created in 1885, the work bears the artist's signature and date. Provenance details are not provided in available sources.
Context
This watercolour reflects late 19th-century interests in observational animal studies, potentially influenced by Noble's practice of sketching from life or immediate memory.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
John Sargent Noble painted quiet, detailed watercolors of rural life around the late 1800s.
