Howard Koslow: Chili Wreath

Artist: Howard Koslow
1924 -
Nationality: American
Artwork Year: 1998
Image Size: 12 by 14 inches
Overall Size: 18 by 20.125 inches
Medium: Acrylic on Cold Press Illustration Board

Although Christmas is observed in a variety of ways in Latin America and the American southwest, religious aspects of the holiday play a predominant role in the festivities. In Mexico, families decorate the home with festoons of Spanish moss, evergreen branches and colored paper lanterns. One room is reserved for a small altar that is covered with pine branches and used to display a Nativity scene. Several days before Christmas the posadas begins. Meaning "resting place, lodging or inn," the term is applied to the Mexican custom of commemorating the hardships experienced by Mary and Joseph as they sought shelter in Bethlehem. During the holiday season, children enjoy breaking the pinata -- a large, decorative earthenware jar of various sizes and shapes containing fruits, nuts and candies. One by one, the children are blindfolded and take turns trying to break the pinata with a stick, hoping to collect the treats inside. In Panama, Christmas carols are sung at special masses held at dawn for the nine days preceding Christmas. Nacimientos (Nativity scenes) are displayed in churches and homes. The Nacimientos can be quite elaborate in design, often including not only the manger scene with Mary, Joseph and the Christ Child, but miniature houses, trees, plants, waterfalls and grass. These details are created to represent the town of Bethlehem and the surrounding countryside. During the midnight mass on Christmas Eve, children sing Spanish Christmas carols, accompanied by castanets and tambourines.

This painting originally appeared on the Fleetwood® First Day Cover of the Holiday Contemporary Series 32¢ Chili stamp issued October 15, 1998.

Artwork Copyright © 1998 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB16137

US$ Price: $2,000.00

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