Merry Christmas (Thomas Nast)
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
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This print
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
Santa Claus sits surrounded by five children in their nightclothes. One girl kisses his cheek, a toddler on his knee pulls at his beard, a boy kneels to hug him and two more lean in from behind. A small starred banner rises behind his cap. New toys lie on the floor: a tennis racket, a ball, a box and a horse on wheels. Nast's Santa was a figure of the American family Christmas, and he often drew him at home among children rather than at the North Pole. The drawing is in black line with dense hatching for Santa's coat. It is a plate from Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race, published by Harper & Brothers in 1890, a collection of the Christmas pictures he drew for Harper's Weekly.
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
Santa hugged by a crowd of children and new toys, drawn in black line on cream paper. A warm piece for a family room, a child's room or the mantel at Christmas, beside Homer's Snap the Whip; a black frame suits it.
Size, framing & materials
- Style
- Golden Age of Illustration painting
- Era
- 19th century (by 1890)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- 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
