Description

Kris Kringle by P. Buckley Moss

Introduction

Kris Kringle by P. Buckley Moss is a 1994 limited, numbered lithograph introducing one of the artist’s most distinctive Christmas characters. Against an open white background, Moss presents a wonderfully unconventional Santa figure in a patterned red suit and tall pointed hat, carrying a slender staff topped by a gold-colored star.

The figure is built from elongated, almost geometric forms: pointed boots, angular sleeves, a triangular hat, black mittens, and a long flowing beard. With no landscape or supporting characters, Kris Kringle himself becomes the complete Christmas story.

Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory confirms Kris Kringle as Product ID 64816, a 1994 Rare, limited, numbered lithograph, currently priced at $425.00 and classified under Christmas.

Story Behind the Artwork

The supplied Canada Goose Gallery history identifies this 1994 work as the first in Moss’s Kris Kringle series. That distinction gives the print an important relationship to the many Kris Kringle subjects that followed, including later works such as Kris Kringle’s Snowman, Kris Kringle’s Angel, Quilted Kris Kringle, Kringle Dance, and Kringle’s Air Noel, all of which are documented in current gallery inventory.

Visually, the original character is strikingly different from the round, heavily detailed Santa familiar from commercial Christmas imagery. Moss strips the figure down to patterned red shapes, a long orange-gold beard, black accessories, and a star-topped staff.

That simplicity gives the character a storybook quality while leaving plenty of room for the distinctive costume and pose to carry his personality.

Symbols & Meaning

The star-topped staff provides the strongest secondary visual element. Stars have longstanding associations with Christmas imagery and with light and guidance more broadly, but no documented artist statement has been supplied explaining Moss’s specific meaning for the star in this work.

The brilliant red clothing establishes the seasonal identity immediately, while the tall hat, long beard, and staff give this Kris Kringle an appearance that draws from older European Christmas-character traditions without reproducing one historical costume literally.

Rather than assigning fixed symbolism, the work is best understood as Moss’s highly stylized interpretation of the Christmas gift-bringer.

Artistic Details

Kris Kringle is notable for how little Moss needs to establish the character. The entire figure is constructed against unbroken white paper, so silhouette becomes especially important.

The patterned red suit and hat create the largest color masses. Small dark floral-like marks keep those shapes from feeling flat, while black mittens and sharply pointed boots provide strong visual punctuation. The orange-gold beard spills vertically through the center and softens the harder geometry of the costume.

The staff creates a long diagonal across the body, interrupting the otherwise upright pose and leading the eye toward the gold-colored star.

At only 5-3/8 x 2-3/4 inches, this is a very narrow image, and that proportion reinforces the tall, elongated character of Moss’s Kris Kringle.

Featured Master Collections

Primary Master Collection: Christmas Traditions

This assignment is directly documented. Kris Kringle appears by name in Canada Goose Gallery’s approved Christmas Traditions Master Collection, alongside Kringle Bells, Kiss Me Kris, and other Moss holiday works. The collection is defined around recurring Christmas imagery including Santa and holiday celebration.

Supporting Master Collection: Rare & Remarkable

Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory explicitly classifies Kris Kringle as Rare Art. The Rare & Remarkable framework includes verified rare editions and milestone works, making this an appropriate collector-focused supporting assignment.

Decorating Ideas

The narrow vertical format makes Kris Kringle particularly effective in a Christmas gallery wall, entryway, hallway, dining room, kitchen, or small seasonal display.

Its strong red, black, gold, and white palette pairs naturally with traditional Christmas decorating but is graphic enough to work in more eclectic interiors as well.

For collectors with several Moss Kris Kringle works, displaying this print with later members of the character grouping can visually trace how Moss revisited the subject over time.

Gift Ideas

Kris Kringle is especially appropriate for an established P. Buckley Moss collector, Christmas art collector, Kris Kringle enthusiast, or someone building a Rare Art collection.

Its supplied designation as the first work in the Kris Kringle series also makes it particularly relevant to a collector who already owns later Kringle titles and wants to add the beginning of that sequence.

About the Edition

Artist: P. Buckley Moss
Title: Kris Kringle
Year: 1994
Medium: Lithograph
Edition: Limited, numbered edition
Gallery-supplied numbered edition: 1,000
Gallery-supplied Artist Proofs: 25
Image size: 5-3/8 x 2-3/4 inches
Paper size: 9-1/2 x 6-1/4 inches
Condition: New, mint condition
Product ID: 64816
Current approved CGG reference price: $425.00
CGG classification: Rare Art
Verified subject: Christmas
Series information: Supplied by Canada Goose Gallery as the first in the Moss Kris Kringle series

Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory independently verifies the 1994 date, Rare classification, limited/numbered lithograph format, Product ID, $425 current price, and Christmas classification.

🎨 Fun Fact:

The name Kris Kringle has traveled a surprisingly long linguistic road. Merriam-Webster traces it to the German Christkindl, a term connected with the “Christ Child” and Christmas gift-giving. The name entered American English in varied spellings during the early 1800s and gradually became another name for Santa Claus. In other words, the familiar American “Kris Kringle” began not as another name for St. Nicholas, but through a German Christmas tradition centered on the Christ Child.

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🖼️ Collector’s Insight:

What distinguishes Kris Kringle is the combination of character origin and verified edition status. The supplied gallery history identifies it as the first work in Moss’s Kris Kringle series, while the image itself establishes a very specific visual vocabulary—a patterned red suit, long beard, pointed forms, black mittens and boots, and star-topped staff—that later Kringle works could build upon. Canada Goose Gallery also verifies the 1994 lithograph as Rare Art and currently lists it at $425, giving collectors a factual basis for understanding its place within both the Christmas Traditions and Rare & Remarkable groupings without making unsupported claims about demand or future value.

Why Buy from Canada Goose Gallery

Canada Goose Gallery specializes in the artwork of P. Buckley Moss and maintains collector-focused records of edition type, condition, subject, and relationships among related works. Kris Kringle is documented in approved gallery inventory as a 1994 Rare, limited, numbered lithograph and is offered new and in mint condition.

Continue Exploring

Continue with Canada Goose Gallery’s:

• Christmas Traditions
• Rare & Remarkable
• P. Buckley Moss Rare Prints
• Quilted Kris Kringle
• Kris Kringle’s Snowman
• Kris Kringle’s Angel
• Kringle Bells
• Kringle Dance
• Kringle’s Air Noel
• Kringle’s Swing

Suggested Categories & Subjects:

• P. Buckley Moss Fine Art Prints
• P. Buckley Moss Rare Prints
• Christmas
• Kris Kringle

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 “Where the Kringle story began.”