SILO, Adam

Dutch painter, etcher, mezzotint engraver, draughtsman, instrument maker, modeller, goldsmith, shipbuilder and writer. Silo worked as a master shipbuilder and sea captain until he was 30, but by c. 1694 or shortly after he had learnt how to paint from Theodor van Pee (c. 1668-1746).

In 1697 Silo was in Amsterdam giving Peter the Great instruction in the drawing of ships; notes made by the Tsar at the time have survived, and Peter the Great owned several of his tutor’s paintings and he reputedly used them to examine cadets at the Naval Academy in Russia.

Silo’s pictures are all of marine subjects, for example the Admiral at Sea (Historisch Museum, Amsterdam) and Calm Sea with Shipping (Marine Museum, Rotterdam). The effects of a cold winter can be seen in the View of the Frozen IJ with Whalers, as Seen from the Blaue Hoofd (1720; Historisch Museum, Amsterdam). Apart from this one dated work, there is little evidence for a chronological catalogue of Silo’s oeuvre. On most of the more than 20 known etchings, Silo is mentioned both as the designer and etcher; none is dated, and all, like his paintings, drawings and watercolours are of marine subjects. He worked out his images in rough hatching using a fine etching needle. The quality of impressions differs markedly. Occasionally Silo experimented with mezzotint. Among the books he wrote is Afteekeningen van verscheidene soorten en charters van schepen en andere vaartuigen (1757).