Two Men Contemplating the Moon
Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1825–30
Two men, a crooked tree, a thin moon. They stand close and look the same way. We do not hear what they think.
About this work
Friedrich painted this moonlit scene at least three times. The first version, of 1819–20, is in the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden; a variant of about 1824 with a man and a woman is in Berlin's Alte Nationalgalerie; this one, painted about 1825–30, has been at The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2000. Two figures stand on a mountain path at dusk, one leaning on the other's shoulder, both looking at a thin crescent moon and the evening star. An uprooted, moss-grown oak, propped on a boulder, reaches across toward a spruce, and the dark foreground sets off a pale, glowing sky. The themes are Friedrich's usual ones: contemplation, spirituality in nature and the sublime. The Met's canvas is small, about 35 × 44 cm (13¾ × 17¼ in). Samuel Beckett, standing in front of the man-and-woman version, is reported to have said: "This was the source of Waiting for Godot, you know."
Sources: Wikipedia · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 5,935 × 4,752 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 39 × 31 in
- Sizes
- Small (20 × 16 in) · $100 · 297 ppi
Medium (24 × 19 in) · $150 · 247 ppi
Large (36 × 29 in) · $300 · 164 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of Two Men Contemplating the Moon?
Here. Two Men Contemplating the Moon is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (20 × 16 in) for $100, Medium (24 × 19 in) for $150 and Large (36 × 29 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for Two Men Contemplating the Moon?
The file is 5,935 × 4,752 px, so every size is sharp: even Large (36 × 29 in) prints at 164 ppi. Choose Large (36 × 29 in) for a large wall; Small (20 × 16 in) suits a narrower space.
Is it legal to print Two Men Contemplating the Moon?
Yes. Two Men Contemplating the Moon is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
