Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1928, Silverman received a BA from Columbia College and studied at the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute.
[citation needed] In 1956, Silverman traveled with fellow artist Harvey Dinnerstein to Montgomery, Alabama, to document the profound social changes taking place after Black activists refused to ride the city's then segregated buses.
During their visit, Dinnerstein and Silverman created more than 90 drawings ranging from courtroom scenes to church meetings to portraits of those who chose, according to the Rev.
As described in the exhibition catalogue, "They traveled to document through their drawings ordinary people engaged in a mighty endeavor, a demonstration of civil disobedience which came to be known as the Montgomery bus boycott.
His draftsmanship, brushwork, composition, use of color, and tonality both owe a debt to and have continued the traditions and standards established by the great representationalist artists throughout history.
[8] Beginning the early 1990s, Silverman focused on portraiture and refining his style, which ran in opposition to the dictums and tenets of modernist art—in and of itself a radical act.
Asserting itself throughout his painting is the fluid brushwork and natural coloration that informs the eye while eliciting, alchemically, a compassionate understanding of the human condition.