The White Fox
poet
Okakura Kakuzo
(Yokohama, 1862 - 1913, Akakura)
Date1913
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumTypewritten ink on paper
Dimensions28.1 x 22.2 cm (11 1/16 x 8 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsManuscripts
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberARC.006550
eMuseum ID717000
EmbARK ObjectID23246
Previous NumberU3nOK.Okak.Kaku.C74
TMS Source ID8373
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryArt historian and philosopher Okakura Kakuzō adapted the Japanese legend of Kuzunoha into a libretto for an opera. In the story, a young nobleman saves a white fox from a hunter. The fox visits the man in the form of a woman. The two marry and have a child, but ultimately the woman decides to return to the forest and her fox life. Okakura dedicated his manuscript to Isabella which she displayed in the Okakura Case in the Blue Room.
BibliographyNotesAdam Haliburton, "The Elusive White Fox by Okakura Kakuzō," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 19 December 2023, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/elusive-white-fox-okakura-kakuzo
MarksNotesInscribed, signed and dated in ink (page 2): To the Presence / Fenway Court / with out whose suggestion this foolish attempt would / never have been made / I dedicate the humble result / Okakura - Kakuzo / March 2nd 1913
ProvenanceNotesGift from Okakura Kakuzo to Isabella Stewart Gardner 2 March 1913.
