1750
oil
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Cock, hen and chickens surprised by a fox is a 1750 oil by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, a Rococo painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
The painting shows a rooster, a hen, and three little chicks on the left. Their feathers puff up in panic. A red fox lunges from the right, jaws open. Oudry painted this scene with tiny, careful brushstrokes. He worked mostly in still lifes and hunting scenes. This scene feels alive—you almost hear the chickens squawk. Look up Jean-Baptiste Oudry at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
An oil painting depicts a cock, hen, and chicks scattering in alarm as a fox emerges from behind a tree. The work, attributed to Jean-Baptiste Oudry but possibly executed by his son Jacques-Charles, reflects the 18th-century French fashion for animal and hunting scenes. Oudry, trained in Paris and favored by Louis XV, specialized in such compositions, though this piece lacks his usual precision. The scene exemplifies the era’s interest in naturalistic animal depiction, influenced by the popularity of menageries and detailed observation in art.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean-Baptiste Oudry was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game. His son, Jacques-Charles Oudry, was also a painter.
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