Untitled (Portrait of the Smith Family, New York)
1845
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
13.7 × 10.7 cm (5 7/16 × 4 1/4 in.); Open case: 15.2 × 23.8 × 1.2 cm (6 × 9 3/8 × 1/2 in.); Case: 15.2 × 11.9 × 2 cm (6 × 4 11/16 × 13/16 in.); Plate: 14 × 10.8 cm (5 1/2 × 4 1/4 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250016
Art Historical Context
Step into the nascent world of with *Untitled (Portrait the Smith Family, New York)* a captivating daguerreotype from 5 created by an unknown maker. This portrait, housed in the Art Institute of's Photography and Media Department, captures a middle-class New York family in a moment of quiet formality. Measuring just 13.7 × 10.7 cm in its plate, the image is housed in a protective case, typical of the era's precious keepsakes. Daguerreotypes, invented in 1839, marked photography's public debut and revolutionized portraiture by making lifelike images accessible beyond elite painters. This mediu...