Francis Augustus Silva

Born in New York, Francis Silva was a second generation Hudson River School painter, who did much painting along the Hudson River and along the coastline from Chesapeake Bay to Cape Ann, Massachusetts.  His earliest known painting is titled Cape Ann.

He became one of the leading marine painters of the luminist style of the mid to late 19th century, especially known for his brilliant sunsets with atmospheric effects.  Of him, it was written: For Silva, the subtle manipulation of light and atmosphere was an aesthetic device that transcended naturalism and became an almost abstract means of expressing sentiment. (Zellman, 265)