The Playwright
Louis Wain, 1902
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 8 x 10 in, 69 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyA theatrical cat mid-inspiration, manuscript in disarray, from The Sketch of June 1902. Wain skewering literary London in the person of one overwrought tom.
- Maker
- Louis Wain
- Date
- 1902
- Medium of the original
- Periodical illustration
- Original held by
- The Sketch, 4 June 1902
- Credit
- The Sketch, 4 June 1902 · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-01829
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 | 69 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 8 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 11 x 14 in | 49 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 12 x 18 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 16 x 20 in | 34 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 16 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 24 x 30 in | 23 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 36 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 578 x 693 px, b-w, GIMP built-in D65 Grayscale with sRGB TRC
- Tone
- Darks 78, lights 252 of 255; 3.6% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 50.33
- Notes
- Pure white on 4% of the image, mostly the sheet itself: it prints as the paper's white
Best in Show
Art has always known who the good ones are.
All 153 pieces from Best in Show
