Untitled (George Coit)
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Untitled (George Coit)” 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
Daguerreotypes—brilliant photographs on metal plates—memorialized families with the first widely affordable images. The technology was especially popular in the 1840s and 1850s, an era of higher mortality rates. Daguerreotypists employed the slogan “Secure the shadow, ere the substance fade” to encourage sitters to visit the photographer’s studio before it was too late. This is one of a rare group of five images that tracks a single family over several years, including a period of mourning. Most of the images focus on the family’s patriarch, Charles Coit, including a photographic portrait, a painted portrait based on that photograph, a daguerreotype copy of that painting, and finally, a daguerreotype of the entire family posing with the painting—as a substitute for the father in a group portrait—made after his untimely death. These family photographs thus invite meditation on mortality and the function of representation. Can a painting stand in for a person? Can a photograph?
Read on
Here, we see a portrait of the youngest son, George Coit; judging from his clothing, this was probably made during the same session as the group portrait (2019.454) after his father's death.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 2019.455
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
