View on the Hudson, the Catskills in the Distance
by Francis Augustus Silva (1835–1886)12½ x 20¼ inches
Signed lower right: F.A. SILVA.
Provenance
Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York
Mrs. Norman B. Woolworth, New York
Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York
Wolf Family Collection, Texas, acquired from above, November 14, 1979
Sale, Sotheby’s, New York, New York, April 19, 2023, lot 48, from above
Exhibited
Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York, The American Painting Collection of Mrs. Norman B. Woolworth, November 10–28, 1970
Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York, American Luminism, October 25–November 25, 1978
Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, New York, Francis A. Silva (1835–1886): In His Own Light, April 24–June 28, 2002
Literature
The American Painting Collection of Mrs. Norman B. Woolworth (New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, Inc., 1970), 60, no. 105.
American Luminism (New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, 1978), n.p., no. 31.
John I. H. Baur, “Francis A Silva: Beyond Luminism,” The Magazine Antiques 118 (November 1980): 1023, fig. 7.
Barbara Novak, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Nineteenth-Century American Painting (London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 1986), 142, fig. 1.
Francis A. Silva (1835–1886): In His Own Light (New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 2002), 84, 129, pl. 18.
Related Works
On the Hudson near Haverstraw, 1872, oil on canvas, 18¼ x 30⅜ inches; Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois
Kingston Point, Hudson River, ca. 1873, oil on canvas, 20 x 35 13/16 inches; Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain
The Hudson at the Tappan Zee, 1876, oil on canvas, 24 x 42 3/16 inches, signed lower left; Brooklyn Museum, New York
Note: Francis Augustus Silva made frequent trips along the Hudson River studying light effects and creating sketches to use back at his studio in New York. This work showcases the artist’s mastery of light as he bathes the sky in tinted hues that reflect across the rippled water.
Erving and Joyce (Joy) Wolf were passionate art collectors who amassed a remarkable collection throughout their marriage with works by some of the most recognizable American artists of the 19th and 20th century.
Artist Biography
Luminist painter best known for harbor scenes along the East Coast
By Eve Perry
The Luminist painter Francis Augustus Silva is best known for his poetic, intensely lit scenes of boats and shipwrecks along the East Coast.
I. Biography
II. Chronology
III. Collections
IV. Exhibitions
V. Memberships
VI. Suggested Resources
I. Biography
The son of an immigrant barber,