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Artists›David Octavius Hill

David Octavius Hill

David Octavius Hill

Artist

WA-00027588

PrintmakingPhotography

Representation

None documented

21

Institutional Exhibitions

210

Works in Collection

383

Assets Indexed

0

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ722792 ULAN500019476

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Self Portrait: The Photographer's Persona, 1840�1985

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985–1986

No image

From the Gilman Collection: Photographs Preserved in Ink

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1984–1985

No image

Reinstallation of the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1980

No image

Edward Steichen Photography Center Reinstallation

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1979

No image

Nineteenth-Century Photographs from the Arnold H. Crane Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1979

No image

Photography for Collectors

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1976

No image

Portrait Photographs

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1969

No image

Photography as Printmaking

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1968

No image

Steichen Gallery Reinstallation

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

No image

Edward Steichen Photography Center

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

30th Anniversary Special Installation - Towards the "New" Museum

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1959

No image

Photographs from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1958–1959

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2648
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

David Octavius Hill was a Scottish painter and pioneering photographer who, from the 1840s onward, created some of the earliest portrait photographs in collaboration with chemist Robert Adamson. Working in calotype, a paper-based photographic process, Hill and Adamson produced approximately 3,000 images in their Edinburgh studio before Adamson's death in 1848. Hill's subsequent career combined painting with continued photographic practice, establishing him as a foundational figure in early photographic portraiture. His work demonstrates the artistic possibilities of photography at a moment when the medium was still contested as a legitimate art form.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Photography

Medium

Printmaking

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (210)

Mrs. Anne Rigby and Lady Elizabeth Eastlake

Mrs. Anne Rigby and Lady Elizabeth Eastlake

1916 · Carbon print

Image/paper: 20.5 × 15.3 cm (8 1/8 × 6 1/16 in.); Mount: 38.5 × 26.7 cm (15 3/16 × 10 9/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Camera Work: Number 37, January 1912

Camera Work: Number 37, January 1912

1912 · photogravure

Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of James Nasmyth

Portrait of James Nasmyth

1879 · Carbon print

Image: 20.3 × 15.3 cm (8 × 6 1/16 in.); Paper: 29.3 × 22.8 cm (11 9/16 × 9 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of an Unknown Man

1870 · Albumen silver print (carte de visite)

4 1/8 × 2 1/2" (10.5 × 6.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Departure

1848 · Pen and brown ink on cream laid paper

8.7 × 13.2 cm (3 7/16 × 5 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Mrs. Murray

1847 · Salted paper print

7 7/8 × 5 13/16" (20 × 14.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

St. Andrews Castle, from the Southeast

St. Andrews Castle, from the Southeast

1846 · salted paper print from calotype negative

Image: 19.9 x 18.7 cm (7 13/16 x 7 3/8 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Scots Guards at Edinburgh Castle

Scots Guards at Edinburgh Castle

1846 · salted paper print from calotype negative

Image: 14 x 19.5 cm (5 1/2 x 7 11/16 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

The cannon 'Mons Meg' at Edinburgh Castle, and a private in the 2nd battalion of Royal Scots who garrisoned the Castle in 1846

The cannon 'Mons Meg' at Edinburgh Castle, and a private in the 2nd battalion of Royal Scots who garrisoned the Castle in 1846

1846 · Salted paper print

Image/paper: 27.5 × 37.1 cm (10 7/8 × 14 5/8 in.); Mount: 38.9 × 50.8 cm (15 3/8 × 20 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Lord Cockburn at Bonaly

Lord Cockburn at Bonaly

1846 · Salted paper print

Image/paper: 15.2 × 20.9 cm (6 × 8 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Gordon Highlanders at Edinburgh Castle

Gordon Highlanders at Edinburgh Castle

1846 · Calotype

7 3/4 × 5 3/4" (19.7 × 14.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Newhaven Fishwives, Jeanie Wilson and Annie Linton

Newhaven Fishwives, Jeanie Wilson and Annie Linton

1845 · salted paper print from calotype negative

Image: 29.5 x 14.4 cm (11 5/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Mr. Brodie, RSA, August 25, 1845, Sculptor, Lived in Cornwell St.

Mr. Brodie, RSA, August 25, 1845, Sculptor, Lived in Cornwell St.

1845 · Salted paper print

Image/paper: 19.2 × 14.5 cm (7 9/16 × 5 3/4 in.); Mount: 38.7 × 24.7 cm (15 1/4 × 9 3/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

St. Andrews

1845 · Salted paper print

Image, circular: 10.1 × 10.1 cm (4 × 4 in.); Paper: 14.8 × 14.7 cm (5 7/8 × 5 13/16 in.); Mount: 24.1 × 23.1 cm (9 1/2 × 9 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1845 · Salted paper print

Image: 11.4 × 9 cm (4 1/2 × 3 9/16 in.); Mount: 25.5 × 20.3 cm (10 1/16 × 8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Sir John McNeill

Sir John McNeill

1845 · Carbon print

Image/paper: 20.2 × 15.1 cm (8 × 6 in.); Mount: 30.7 × 24.4 cm (12 1/8 × 9 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Dumbarton Presbytery

Dumbarton Presbytery

1845 · Salted paper print

Image/paper: 14.1 × 19.2 cm (5 9/16 × 7 9/16 in.); Hinged matte: 19.2 × 28.2 cm (7 9/16 × 11 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Mr. Forrester

1845 · Waxed-paper negative

12 1/2 × 10 1/4" (31.8 × 26.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Hon. Wortley and Wife

The Hon. Wortley and Wife

1845 · Calotype

8 1/16 × 6 1/4" (20.5 × 15.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Misses McCandlish

The Misses McCandlish

1845 · Calotype

8 1/16 × 6 1/4" (20.5 × 15.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1845 · Carbon print, printed 1920

12 × 10" (30.5 × 25.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Lord Ruthven

1845 · Calotype

8 × 5 3/4" (20.3 × 14.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Lady Mary Ruthven

Lady Mary Ruthven

1845 · Calotype

7 11/16 × 5 13/16" (19.5 × 14.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Elizabeth Rigby, later Lady Eastlake (1809-1893)

Elizabeth Rigby, later Lady Eastlake (1809-1893)

1844 · salted paper print from calotype negative

Image: 21.5 x 15.6 cm (8 7/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

View all 210 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

210 published of 380 catalogued · 100 with image

MoMA
170 publishedof 340 catalogued65 img
Art Institute Chicago
28 published28 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
7 published7 img
The Met
5 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 1)

1 entries · 1 sources

St. Andrews Castle, from the Southeast
1846 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

The cannon 'Mons Meg' at Edinburgh Castle, and a private in the 2nd battalion of Royal Scots who garrisoned the Castle in 1846 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

The cannon 'Mons Meg' at Edinburgh Castle, and a private in the 2nd battalion of Royal Scots who garrisoned the Castle in 1846 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

4

Movements1

Collections3

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago