
Der letzte Mann
Theo Matejko, 1924
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 8 x 10 in, Wrong shape: a 16% crop. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyTheo Matejko's 1924 poster for F. W. Murnau's Der letzte Mann (The Last Laugh). Murnau's near-wordless drama freed the camera to move as never before, telling a whole life through a uniform and its loss. Notice the towering figure reduced, in Matejko's design, to a bowed silhouette. A man is his uniform.
- Maker
- Theo Matejko
- Date
- 1924
- Medium of the original
- Poster
- Original held by
- Wikimedia Commons
- Credit
- Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Cleared for print
- Catalogue number
- PA-00680
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 8 x 10 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 8 x 12 in | 141 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 11 x 14 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 12 x 18 in | 94 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 16 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 16 x 24 in | 70 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | 56 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 24 x 36 in | 47 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | 28 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 1,146 x 1,700 px, srgb, sRGB
- Tone
- Darks 28, lights 216 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0.1% clipped dark
- Colour
- 2.1% vivid
- Sharpness
- 0.53
- Notes
- Neutrals lean toward green: the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
- Soft fine detail at full resolution: smaller sizes print crisper
The Picture Palace
German Expressionism: shadow printed to the stone.
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