Silva, William Posey
(1859-1948)
“Picking Cotton on the Plantation”

Artist Biography

William Posey Silva (1859-1948)

Born/lived: Savannah, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Carmel, California; Washington D.C.

Known: In 1887, he moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and there became known as “the finest artist at the turn of the century”. He painted in an impressionist style and did many panoramic views of Chattanooga as well as paintings of the pine forests near Savannah. A landscape painter, William Silva was an important art world figure in Tennessee and also in California. An Impressionist, Silva is best remembered for his depictions of the early art colony of Carmel. Known for painting cypresses, eucalypti, dunes, and coasts.

Studied: at Catham Academy and engineering at the University of Virginia. He retired to travel to Paris for studies at the Academie Julian as a student of Jean Paul Laurens. He also painted with American artist Chauncey Ryder.

Member: He also lived Washington D.C. where he was active in the Society of Washington Artists. He was a member of numerous organizations including the California Art Club and the Salmagundi Club.

Exhibited: Recognition came quickly, and he had his first solo exhibition in 1909 in Paris at the Georges Petit Gallery. For 3 years after his return to the U.S., Silva had studios in the South, painting and exhibiting in Tennessee, winning of the silver medal in 1910 at the Appalachian Exposition in Knoxville where he displayed seventy canvases. He built a studio off Carmelita Street in the sand dunes but continued to exhibit with the Southern States Art League and also maintained close ties with his birthplace, Savannah, where in 1917 a solo exhibition was held at the Telfair Academy.