Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen), c.1902/03 Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Paul Gauguin also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen) is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

In Paul Gauguin’s “Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen),” painted around 1902-03, we see a scene that at first feels humble, almost pastoral, but with a strange, spiritual undercurrent that Gauguin often infused into his later works. The ox, front and center, leads the viewer’s gaze with an almost human-like stoicism. Its broad back, earthy and raw in color, contrasts the icy palette of snow that dominates the background. The cow feels important here, almost reverent, as if it’s partaking in a ritual as old as time itself.

The scene takes place in what appears to be a small, quiet village cloaked in snow, with figures - likely peasants - draped in dark cloaks, each one looking toward the sculpture of Madonna and Child. There’s a ceremonial air, with the ox walking toward the religious figures as if seeking some unspoken blessing. The towering spire in the distance grounds the painting firmly in a spiritual context, reinforcing the religious motif.

Gauguin’s color choices are fascinating here - muted tones, cool blues, and whites dominate, but they’re juxtaposed with earthy browns and occasional pinks in the sunset sky. It feels cold but charged with warmth from within. The technique is rough but deliberate, his brushstrokes short and textural, giving the snow and figures a tactile sense.

The composition is tight and enclosed, making the scene feel intimate, yet there’s this looming sense of the sacred, almost like you’re witnessing something out of time. Gauguin's decision to place the ox in such proximity to the statue pulls the viewer into a moment that feels both mundane and otherworldly, where nature meets the divine.