William Posey Silva

William Posey Silva (1859–1948) was an early 20th century American painter noted for atmospheric landscapes painted in a lyrical impressionist style.

[1] In 1907, he went to Paris to study art at the Académie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens and Henri Royer, as well as with Chauncey Foster Ryder at Étaples; he painted in Venice and Spain.

When he returned to the United States in 1910, he first set up studios in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. (where he wintered), and spent much of the next three years traveling around the South, searching out painting sites and exhibiting his work.

[1] In 1911 Silva purchased property in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and established a summer studio; a year later he and his family occupied a home there on Carmelo Street.

[1] During his California years, Silva continued to exhibit his work both internationally and nationally, returning often to the South in the 1920s to paint the Carolina Low Country.

[1] In 1922 Silva and his wife returned to France where he exhibited four paintings at Paris’ Salon de la Société des Artistes Français and received an honorable mention.

Silva's paintings won numerous awards, including a silver medal at the Appalachian Exposition in Knoxville, Tennessee (1910) and second prize at the California State Fair (1920).