Francis Augustus Silva (October 4, 1835 – March 31, 1886) was an American Luminist painter of the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. Early on, the paintings typically depicted the Hudson River Valley and the sur ...

. His specialty was marine scenes, particularly of the Atlantic coast, a genre in which he masterfully captured the subtle gradations of light in the coastal atmosphere. He focused on romantic scenes, avoiding depictions of seaside recreation, even when painting scenes at

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

, which was then already a popular recreational area.

Biography

Born in New York City, he started out as a sign painter in his home city, also painting landscape and historical scenes on the wooden paneling of

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

es.^:316 In 1861 he joined the

New York State Militia The New York Guard (NYG) is the State Defense Force (SDF) of New York State, and is one of the four branches of the New York Military Forces (NYMF), the other three branches being the New York Army National Guard, New York Air National Guard ...

's Seventh Infantry Regiment and fought in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, reaching the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Due to a bout of illness, he was mistakenly

dishonorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

for

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

, but this was reversed three years later, allowing him to re-enlist and serve as a military hospital steward.^:316 In 1867 he married Margaret Watts and opened a painting workshop in New York. During the following years he participated in several exhibitions of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

. In 1872 he joined the American Society of Watercolorists. In 1876 he traveled to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, his only known trip abroad. He died of pneumonia in 1886. Although he did not achieve great fame during his lifetime, his paintings have since received greater recognition,^:316 with one of his paintings selling for over half a million dollars. He painted

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

s in the states of New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. On occasion he would travel along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

to find material for his paintings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Francis Augustus American marine artists 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists Hudson River School painters American landscape painters Painters from New York City People of New York (state) in the American Civil War 1835 births 1886 deaths