John BantingBritish, 1902–1972A Merry Christmas from John
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “A Merry Christmas from John” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
In this postcard, John Banting sends his holiday wishes to Mary Reynolds, a Surrealist bookbinder whom he’d befriended upon moving to Paris in the 1930s. Banting’s drawing depicts a mother and child still connected by an umbilical cord, with halos emanating rays like a cartoon sun floating above their disjointed bodies—perhaps a nod to the sacred origins of Christmas, the birth of Christ. Bearing the hallmarks of a quick sketch, the anatomy of the figures is bulbous and distorted in a monstrous fashion, leaving us to wonder if Banton was playing with abstraction in a formal sense or approaching this topic with some irreverence. Perhaps both interests are at play.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 2020.39
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
