The first charity Christmas card was produced by UNICEF in 1949.  The picture chosen for the card was painted not by a professional artist but by:

The girl was Jitka Samkova of Rudolfo, a small town in what was then Czechoslovakia.  The town received assistance from UNICEF after the Second World War, inspiring Jitka to paint some children dancing around a maypole.  She said her picture represented "joy going round and round".