Artist Biography

William Posey SILVA
1859 - 1948

William Posey Silva was born in Savannah, Georgia on October 23, 1859. He was educated at the Catham Academy and studied engineering briefly at the University of Virginia. Upon the death of his father, he inherited a successful china and hardware business in Chattanooga. For about thirty years he worked as a prosperous merchant and was nearly fifty years old when he began his art career. In 1907 he retired fom the business and sailed for Paris to study at Académie Julian under Laurens and Royers, and with Chauncey Ryder. His first solo exhibition was held in Paris in 1909 at the Georges Petit Gallery; recognition came quickly and other exhibitions followed in Europe. After returning to the United States in 1910, he had several exhibitions throughout the South. Silva had studios in Washington, DC and Chatanooga, Tennessee until 1913 when he settled in Carmel, California. There he built a studio in the sand dunes off Carmelita Street and for 35 years was an important figure in the local art scene and produced many prize-winning landscapes. An Impressionist who was influenced by the works of Monet and Manet, he worked outdoors to capture bright, fleeting scenes of nature in broad, colorful swatches of paint. Silva died on February 10, 1948. Member: California Art Club; Society of Washington Artists; Mississippi Art Ass'n; Paris-American Art Ass'n; Southern States Art League; New Orleans Art Ass'n; American Artists Professional League; American Federation of Artists; Salmagundi Club; Chatanooga Art Ass'n; Carmel Art Ass'n. Exhibited: Appalachian Expo (Knoxville), 1910 (silver medal); Panama-California Expo (San Diego), 1915 (silver medal); Mississippi Art Ass'n, 1916 (gold medal); California State Fair, 1920, 1935 (prizes); Paris Salon, 1922 (honorable mention); Southern States Art League 1925 (prize); California Statewide (Santa Cruz), 1929, 1930 (prizes); Davis National Competition, San Antonio, 1929 (honorable mention); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Corcoran Gallery of Art; National Academy of Design; Art Institute of Chicago; De Young Museum; Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939. Works held: Montgomery (AL) Museum; Union High School (Monterey); Delgado Museum (New Orleans); Houston Museum; Harrison Library (Carmel); Luxembourg Gallery (France).

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