Francis Augustus Silva

(possibly) Johnston & Van Tassell, New York, 7 June 1872, lot 108

Vose Galleries, Boston

Coe Kerr Gallery, New York (acquired by 1978)

Donald Purdy, Connecticut

Private Collection, Philadelphia (acquired from the above in 1979)

Sotheby's New York, 24 May 2000, lot 123 (consigned by the above)

Godel & Co., Inc., New York (acquired from the above)

Acquired from the above in 2000 by the present owner

John I.H. Bauer, "Francis A. Silva: Beyond Luminism," The Magazine Antiques, vol. CXVIII, issue 5, November 1980, fig. 2, pp. 1020, 1022 and 1027, illustrated

Exh. Cat., New York, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., Francis A. Silva (1835-1886): In His Own Light, fig. 35, p. 124, illustrated (titled Cape Ann (Sundown, Summer Seascape, Cape Ann, Mass.)

New York, Coe Kerr Gallery, American Luminism, 1978, no. 32, illustrated (with incorrect dimensions)

Cape Ann, Massachusetts was a center of artistic activity in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, drawing painters from Fitz Henry Lane to Marsden Hartley. The peninsula also provided an ideal subject for Francis A. Silva, who mainly depicted rocky coasts during his early career. Cape Ann, known for its extensive granite quarries and harbors, supplied endless inspiration. Silva first explored Massachusetts as an army hospital steward in the Civil War. After becoming a fine artist in New York City, he returned to the state during the summers to sketch.

Cape Ann is among Francis A. Silva’s first known works. Created in 1870, it follows his 1868 National Academy of Design debut, the now lost Old Wreck at Newport. The panoramic sunset scene features lush, shimmering color and a precision that historian John Wilmerding describes as a “Ruskinian clarity of drawing” (Mark D. Mitchell and John Wilmerding, Francis A. Silva: In His Own Light, New York 2002, p. 15). Silva was remarkably consistent throughout his career, working with a steady confidence. His oeuvre is defined by “crisp design, telling details and coloristic radiance”—qualities that seem to emerge fully formed in Cape Ann (ibid., p. 12).