The Champs Voice
  • The Champs Voice
  • Movie Reviews
  • More from the web
  • Other Voices
  • Ask The Champ
  • About

Salvador Dali Christmas cards

25/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Hallmark began reproducing the paintings and designs of contemporary artists on its Christmas cards in the late 1940s, an initiative that was led by company founder Joyce Clyde Hall. The art of Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh and Georgia O’Keeffe all took a turn on Hallmark’s Christmas cards. 

Hall’s mission was noble: Sharing artistic masterpieces with average Americans. “So, through the ‘unsophisticated art’ of greeting cards, the world’s greatest masters were shown to millions of people who might otherwise not have been exposed to them,” Hall wrote in his autobiography. By 1959, Dali had agreed to join the fold, with several stipulations. He asked for $15,000 in cash in advance for 10 greeting card designs, with no suggestions from Hallmark for the subject or medium, no deadline and no royalties.

Dali submitted 10 images to Hallmark, mostly Surrealist renditions of the Christmas tree and the Holy Family. While the images are striking and beautiful, they show that Surrealism and Christmas cards are strange bedfellows. Some of the images are vaguely unsettling – for example, this headless angel playing a lute:


Picture
Or a Christmas tree made of butterflies on a barren plane:
Picture
Or this scene of the three wise men, which is fairly serene except for an extremely dramatic camel:
Picture
Unsettling imagery was, perhaps, to be expected. The whole point of Surrealism was to shake up the conscious mind by juxtaposing irrational images and concepts, in an effort to release the creative potential of the subconscious — not exactly Hallmark's typical mission.

Hallmark felt that only two of the 10 designs might have public appeal. The images below, "The Nativity" and "Madonna and Child," were put into production.

Picture
Picture
Dali’s surrealist take on Christmas proved a bit too avant garde for the average greeting card buyer. Hallmark ultimately pulled the cards from the racks. The several hundred Dali Hallmark cards that are still in existence have become rare collectors’ items.

Article by Ana Swanson 

Ana Swanson writes for Know More and Wonkblog.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    The Champs Voice

    Interesting stories from around the web

    Categories

    All
    America
    Animals
    Arts
    Australia
    Books
    Brazil
    Brexit
    China
    Climate Control
    Crime
    Ebola
    Emotions
    Equality
    Europe
    Government
    Health
    Human Rights
    Ireland
    ISIS
    Labour Party
    Media
    Middle East
    Politics
    Poverty
    Russia
    Social Media
    Sport
    Ted
    Terrorism
    UK
    World Crisis

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2022
    November 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    July 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.