Salvador Dalí's Christmas Cards Were Too Avant Garde for Hallmark

In the 1940s and 50s Hallmark began reproducing the art of Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe and other artists on its Christmas cards. In 1960 surrealist artist Salvador Dalí designed ten holiday greeting cards for them but eight were deemed too unsettling to use. Hallmark only produced two of the Dalí cards, a nativity scene and a depiction of the Madonna and Child, but traditional consumers weren't ready for an avant garde Christmas and the cards were dropped from their product line.

Images: Hallmark Archives
Via: Open Culture