Tom Lovell’s “Christmas Morning” is an illustration, likely made with oil paint on canvas or board. The material execution here is really interesting. Lovell uses loose brushwork, allowing the texture of the paint itself to describe the scene. It’s a manufactured emotion, of course, but it’s meant to touch our hearts. The scene is thick with commodities – a toy train set, a rocking horse, other playthings scattered about. These are potent symbols of domestic life, of course, but also of postwar consumerism. Note that the father is in uniform; this is likely a homecoming scene. The promise of a return to normalcy is materially expressed by the abundance of objects. The fact that this is an illustration matters too. It was likely made for a magazine, and therefore designed to capture attention amidst other visual noise. The artist isn’t aiming for timelessness; instead, Lovell has delivered a snapshot, with all the material urgency that implies.