YOUR AD HERE »

Impressionism meets the traditional

Provided to the Tribune

Silvio Silvestri combines impressionism with traditional fine art to produce a warmth and freedom that excites and captivates the viewer’s attention. He is a plein-air artist whose paintings, created live on location, are filled with such lush colors and confident strokes, they often reveal a subject matter more real than what one might see with a camera.

Come meet Silvio at Tahoe Country, Heavenly Village No. 27 by the new miniature golf course, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday during ArtWalk.

Silvestri comes from a long line of artists and has been painting since childhood. His grandfather moved from Italy in the early 1900s and was a sculptor in America. His father was an architect. Silvestri’s uncle reproduced statues and mannequins in his own plant in the Los Angeles area for 40 years.



He is an award-winning artist, recently placing in art shows in Northern and Southern California. His formal training began in college at California State University, Northridge. Upon completing academic goals in 1974, he did ceramics for one year, yet felt constrained by the three-dimensional process inherent in clay. In 1975, he began painting part time during his travels in the Sierra Nevada. More serious involvement occurred in 1991 when he began studying under local artists including Robert Winters and George Strickland. Since being introduced to Edgar Payne’s book in composition in 1995, he has endeavored to become a plein-air painter, attempting an impression of the subject with an emphasis on light and color.

Living in Lake Tahoe has provided ample natural beauty as a resource and he tries to capture a mood and feeling rather than a realistic image which the camera achieves. He varies his subject matter to include portraits, florals, and figures along with the ever present landscape. Over the last five years he has studied under various nationally known professional artists including Don Ward, T.M. Nicholas, Ron Rencher, Ted Goerschner, Gregory Hull, and Edward Norton Ward. In addition, he has studied with Van Waldron but perhaps Silvestri’s greatest influence has been his mentor and good friend, Robert Sandidge, who has given his instruction and time unselfishly. He is a student of the early California impressionists including Bischoff, Rose, and others working in the 1920s and ’30s, having been influenced by French impressionism years earlier in Europe.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around the Lake Tahoe Basin and beyond make the Tahoe Tribune's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.