Biografie von Francis Augustus SILVA (1835-1886)

Birth place: NYC

Addresses: NYC, 1868-86

Profession: Marine painter

Studied: apparently self-taught

Exhibited: American Institute, 1848-50 (exhibited pen drawings, along with other child artists N.P. Beers and Henry Hays, Jr.); NAD, 1868-86; Brooklyn AA, 1869-85; Boston AC, 1883

Member: AWCS, 1872

Work: NGA; Peabody Mus., Salem; Brooklyn Mus;

Comments: A Luminist of the second generation of the Hudson River School, he was known for his brilliant sunsets and intensified atmospheric effects. He became known for his paintings of marine scenes all along the coastline from Chesapeake Bay to at least as far north as Cape Ann, MA. He took up painting as his career after serving as a Captain during the Civil War.

Sources: G&W; Am. Inst. cat., 1848-50; Panorama (Aug. 1948), 9; Portfolio (May 1955), 216, repro.