Description

The fourth and final print in the ‘Santa’ series was also the hardest to paint.  It was created to meet the demand for a ‘red’ Santa.  Behind Santa are a number of Victorian era Christmas cards.  These are actual cards that were created during that time, with color and some figure alterations made by John, mostly to keep the colors in consistent harmony.

It’s difficult to see, but in the hat and in the beard are physical representations of the twelve days of Christmas.  Also, being a Victorian era Santa, the now-traditional glasses have been removed, since they were not on Santa during that time.
In the bottom left corner is ‘Mrs. Claus’, and in the bottom right is Santa as a child, trying on his red coat for the first time!