William Henry Fox TalbotEnglish, 1800–1877The Chess Players
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “The Chess Players” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The negative-positive process created by William Henry Fox Talbot, and the possibilities for reproduction that it introduced, dominated photography until the digital age. Talbot’s initial experiments show both his interest in science (as he worked to refine his process) and his artistic aspirations. Scholars have confirmed that Talbot took 10 or more views of chess players, yet this one—likely of noted photographer Antoine Claudet and Talbot’s assistant Nicolaas Henneman—may not be his. This print and other variants of the same scene are unsigned, and on a different paper from Talbot’s normal stock. Recent scholarship posits that the images might have been made in Claudet’s studio before ending up in Henneman’s possession; this print could have entered Talbot’s holdings when Henneman gave him prints as payment toward a debt.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1967.158
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
In the life of William Henry Fox Talbot
The whole life1840–1841
Post: High Sheriff of Wiltshire
1840s
Photomechanics: the road to photogravure
In the 1840s Talbot turned to the photomechanical reproduction of pictures; this work led to photoglyphic engraving, the precursor of photogravure. Rendering a photograph in printer’s ink made editions cheaper and avoided the fading of early silver prints.
February 1841
Patents the calotype
Talbot obtained an English patent for the calotype process and sold licences at £20 each, later lowering the fee for amateurs to £4 while professionals paid up to £300 a year; scientists saw it as a hindrance to scientific freedom. He justified his rigour by the roughly £5,000 he had spent on photography; for science the method was free, and Talbot himself published the first known photomicrograph of a mineral crystal.
August 1841
First licence goes to the miniaturist Henry Collen
Having announced the calotype, in August Talbot licensed the miniature painter Henry Collen, who became the first professional calotypist. The most celebrated practitioners of the process were Hill & Adamson.
1842
Son born: Charles Henry Talbot
1844–1846
“The Pencil of Nature”, the first photobook, appears
Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans issued the book in separate parts: 24 prints, each pasted in by hand and accompanied by a short text. Talbot is regarded as the author of the first photographic book; scholars see in it the design of a new canon built on biblical rhetoric.
![[Group of Trees from the American Walnut], William Henry Fox Talbot, June 1, 1840](https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/e2239044-50e4-44d2-be46-db53cdc317f1/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)
