Rockwell painting of Santa sells for $2.17 million

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Norman Rockwell illustration of Santa Claus sold for $2.17 million at a Christie's auction on Thursday, coming up short of the auction house's estimate of $2.5 to $3.5 million.

The artist, famed for nostalgic images of American life, created the oil on canvas for a December 1939 cover of The Saturday Evening Post, showing Santa mapping a global journey to deliver toys with a diary entitled "Extra Good Boys & Girls."

The 37-by-29-inch work further blurs the line between art and illustration and could revalue the market for countless other Rockwell originals of magazine covers.