Landscape Painting

Francis A. Silva (1835–1886)
On the Hudson near Haverstraw, 1872
Francis Augustus Silva painted coastal and river scenes of the northeastern United States that feature low horizons, delicate color, and crystalline light. On the Hudson near Haverstraw, one of many views of the river that the artist produced, demonstrates his concern for subtle light effects. The image captures the scene in late afternoon; the low sun highlights the vessels and tints both water and sky with a narrow range of pastel shades. Unified by its pervasive illumination, the painting is both precisely rendered and geographically specific, showing the town of Haverstraw on the far shore. Silva’s serene painting reflects the evolution of the Hudson River school landscape tradition. While artists affiliated with it had mined the same region in earlier decades for vistas that celebrated the dramatic character of the American wilderness, Silva and his contemporaries favored tranquil, horizontal compositions with diffuse light and smoothly painted surfaces.
Learn more about this painting on the Terra Foundation website.
Landscape Painting

Thomas Cole (1801–1848)
Landscape with Figures: A Scene from "The Last of the Mohicans", 1826

William S. Jewett (1821–1873)
The Promised Land - The Grayson Family, 1850

John Frederick Kensett (1816–1872)
Almy Pond, Newport, c. 1857

Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900)
Our Banner in the Sky, 1861

William Stanley Haseltine (1835–1900)
Rocks at Nahant, 1864

Thomas Moran (1837–1926)
Autumn Afternoon, the Wissahickon, 1864

Fitz Henry Lane (1804–1865)
Brace's Rock, Brace's Cove, 1864

Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823–1880)
Hunter Mountain, Twilight, 1866

Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823–1880)
Morning in the Hudson, Haverstraw Bay, 1866

John La Farge (1835–1910
Paradise Valley, 1866–68

Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904)
Newburyport Marshes: Approaching Storm, c. 1871

Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837–1908)
The Sidewheeler "The City of St. Paul" on the Mississippi River, Dubuque, Iowa, 1872

Francis A. Silva (1835–1886)
On the Hudson near Haverstraw, 1872

Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900)
The Iceberg, c. 1875

Worthington Whittredge (1820–1910)
Indian Encampment, c. 1870–76