He is noted for his depictions of historical events in Brazil, but also completed numerous portraits, religious works, genre scenes, still lifes, and landscapes.

He enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in 1882 and studied with Eliseu Visconti, Eduardo de Sá, and João Batista da Costa.

He became a student of Zeferino da Costa, Victor Meirelles, Chaves Pinheiro, and José Maria de Medeiros.

[3][4] Numerous churches and chapels of the colonial period were replaced by Gothic Revival or neo-colonial buildings in the early 20th century.

[3] Pereira da Silva won the last prize for study abroad granted by the emperor Pedro II of Brazil.

[3][5] Oscar Pereira da Silva died of cardiac arrest while working in his home studio in São Paulo on January 17, 1939.