For her, for him, for Mom, a couple, Grandma or a coworker: a French poem that stays on the wall long after the holidays.
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Four lines by Victor Hugo set at the heart of a large cream page, and at the bottom, discreetly, the title of the poem and its collection, Les Contemplations. A lot of white, very few words: a gift that belongs in every home. Printed on thick matte eco-friendly paper.
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days.
Christmas 2026 · All our Christmas gift ideas, by recipient: triptych wall art and art and poetry prints, for her, for him, for a couple.
Because under the tree, gifts look alike from one year to the next, and many end up in a drawer by January. A poster calls for a real choice, not a reflex, and it stays on the wall all year: there is no need to pack it away with the string lights.
A poem or a quote also says something about the person who gives it. You do not choose Baudelaire for a sister and La Fontaine for a grandmother by chance: you choose words that sound like them.
A winter poster. A Christmas poster gets put away in January; a winter poster stays right until spring. “Il fait froid” (It Is Cold), the poem from Victor Hugo's Les Contemplations, speaks of the cold, the snow and the fading light without ever saying Christmas. Dated December 31, it is a love poem for getting through winter, and here are the four lines the poster keeps:
Dans ta pensée où tout est beau,Victor Hugo · “Il fait froid” · Les Contemplations
Que rien ne tombe ou ne recule.
Fais de ton amour ton flambeau.
On s'éclaire de ce qui brûle.
In your thoughts, where all is beautiful, let nothing fall or draw back. Make your love your torch. We are lit by what burns.
A poem she already knows, or wishes she did. Baudelaire's Harmonie du soir (Evening Harmony) runs four stanzas and reads in a single glance: the whole text set like a page of Les Fleurs du mal, the hour when daylight falls and scents turn in the evening air.
It is the print for a bedroom or a reading nook, for a sister, a friend or a sister-in-law who prefers books to things. In 30x40 cm (12x16 in), it slips into an off-the-shelf frame. The poem can be read in full in Harmonie du soir, the full text.
For the man who is impossible to shop for, one line is enough. “Homme libre, toujours tu chériras la mer !” (Free man, you will always cherish the sea!) opens Baudelaire's L'Homme et la mer: a single sentence, in large letters, over a sky that fades from pink to blue.
It speaks to the man who sails, who walks along the coast or dreams of setting off, to a father, a brother or a father-in-law. It comes in 30x40 cm (12x16 in). For a dad who loves the sea or wine, our guide gift ideas for a dad who loves words offers more texts.
Four more recipients, four texts. All come in 30x40, 40x50 and 50x70 cm (12x16, 16x20 and 20x28 in).
“Mon enfant, ma sœur, songe à la douceur” (My child, my sister, think of the sweetness): tender, ageless words, and the refrain “luxe, calme et volupté” (luxury, calm and delight). For her bedroom or her entryway.
A heart drawn with the letters of the poem (Heart, Crown and Mirror): the declaration is seen before it is read. For a first Christmas together as well as a long story.
“Je plie, et ne romps pas.” I bend, and do not break. The fable (The Oak and the Reed) that grandparents still recite, set like the page of an old edition. The one that gets the grandchildren talking.
Neither a mug nor a candle: a fable (The Grasshopper and the Ant) that raises a smile at the office as in the classroom. The 30x40 cm size fits a group gift.
For a teacher, our teacher gift guide suggests more fables and Proust's madeleine. And for more ideas by recipient, see also French poetry as a Christmas gift.
Yes. Every print in this guide comes in 30x40 cm (12x16 in), the most accessible size, and almost all in 40x50 cm (16x20 in). It is a modest-budget gift that does not end up in a drawer. Prices appear in your currency on each print's page.
Baudelaire's Homme libre, in 30x40 cm: the gift for a brother, a friend, a coworker.
For a sister, a friend, a coworker: it slips into an off-the-shelf frame and under the tree.
The one that shows in the living room, above a dresser or a headboard.
Three texts that answer one another, hung as a triptych: a wall given instead of a picture.
The frame is not included: the sizes are those of off-the-shelf frames, and giving the frame separately makes a second package under the tree.
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days. In December, parcel volumes rise everywhere: ordering in the first half of the month leaves a comfortable margin to frame it before Christmas Eve. To wrap it, roll it in a tube rather than folding it, and slip in a note that says why this particular text.
In a room where people warm up: above a fireplace, near a reading chair, in a bedroom. Only four lines, set in the middle of a large page: at 50x70 cm (20x28 in), the white around them looks like a snowy landscape.
Black on cream suits every interior, and the poem stays right from November to March. It is the poster you never need to take down after the holidays.
A poem that reads in a glance, like Baudelaire's Harmonie du soir (Evening Harmony), for a sister, a friend or a sister-in-law who loves books. In 30x40 cm (12x16 in), the print slips into an off-the-shelf frame.
A single line, in large letters: Baudelaire's “Homme libre, toujours tu chériras la mer !” (Free man, you will always cherish the sea!), for a father, a brother or a father-in-law who loves the sea. It comes in 30x40 cm (12x16 in).
A print that does the work of a declaration: Apollinaire's Cœur couronne et miroir (Heart, Crown and Mirror), a calligram whose letters draw a heart.
Yes: every print in the guide comes in 30x40 cm (12x16 in), the most accessible size, and almost all in 40x50 cm (16x20 in). Three 30x40 prints make a triptych. Prices appear in your currency on each print's page.
A winter subject stays on the wall all year, while a Christmas motif is put away in January. A winter poem, like Victor Hugo's “Il fait froid” (It Is Cold), is the right compromise.
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days. In December, ordering in the first half of the month leaves time to frame it.
The best Christmas gift is the one still on the wall in February. Give a winter poem.
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