What can you tell me about this artist?
Francis A. Silva began his painting career making signs but later became a fine artist and created paintings like these. He was interested in the subtleties of depicting light, which you can see in the sky in this painting of the Hudson River.
Can you tell me about this?
In this painting, Francis A. Silva focuses on the ever-popular Hudson River. Silva was interested in depicting the subtleties of light, which you can see in how he painted the sky in "The Hudson at Tappan Zee."
The trend of focusing on light in paintings is called Luminism. Painters working in a Luminist style in the 1870s were interested in the unique clarity of light. Many, like Silva here, painted landscapes or seascapes. I guess this could be called a riverscape!