Born in the Philippines, internationally acclaimed filipino-American Eulalio Bueno Silva, Jr. or Bueno Silva, became an artist at the age of 24 with no art degree. He eventually put up a Portrait Gallery in the Philippines where he honed his skills. His first major recognition came when he was presented a Medal of Achievement citation by Pope Paul VI in 1970. Silva and his family migrated to San Francisco, California where he held his first solo exhibition in the U.S. In 1985 his painting “Our Lady of the Beaterio” was made into a commemorative National Postage Stamp. His one-man show at the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts won a Virginia State Top Honors award and a National Semi-Finalist Award for the Take Pride in America competion given at the White House in 1987. Silva to move next to Chicago in 1987 as he continued to explore different avenues of painting until it marked a transition in his style using pure loud colors on composition-focused paintings and also led to his involvement in a commission portrait business with the Margaret Emily Curtis Portrait Studios. He is one of the most distinguished and highly sought after portraitist in Chicago today and is a member of the prestigious Portrait Society of America.