Caught!
by 1890 · Wood engraving · Getty Research Institute
The whole print, uncropped, on a printed cream mat with its title beneath.
Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Printed to order, arrives in 4–9 business days
- Arrives perfect or we reprint it, free
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About this work
- Artist
- Thomas Nast (1840–1902)
- Year
- by 1890
- Medium
- Wood engraving
- Collection
- Getty Research Institute (Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race, 1890)
- Movement
- Golden Age of Illustration
- Series
- Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race
A small child in a nightgown stands on a brass bed and throws both arms round Santa Claus's neck, catching him in the act of delivering presents. Santa, seen from behind, wears holly in his fur cap and holds a toy carriage and his pipe. Behind them a stocking and a sprig of greenery hang at the chimney piece. The drawing is in fine black line, with dense hatching for the fur coat and the shadowed room. It is by Thomas Nast, who drew Christmas pictures for Harper's Weekly for more than twenty years. His Santa was a family figure who visited bedrooms, read letters and was sometimes discovered. This wood engraving is a plate from Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race, published by Harper & Brothers in 1890.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A child hugging Santa beside a brass bed, in black line on cream paper. It suits a child's room, landing or the stairs for the holiday season, alongside Homer's Snap the Whip; a black frame suits the engraving.
Size, framing & materials
- Style
- Golden Age of Illustration painting
- Era
- 19th century (by 1890)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, kids room, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 12×18, 16×24 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway. See it to scale on your wall →
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
- Restored in-house from a scan of the original print, cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution
- Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Framed option: wood frame in black or dark wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size
- Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen
