He was born in Yugoslavia, and has cultivated his deep connection with European art throughout his career. After his degree from the American Academy of Art in 1985, he moved to Madrid to study the old masters first hand. There, Silvius refined his aesthetic judgment, scrutinizing with particular intensity the Seventeenth Century Spanish School. In 1987 he moved to Paris to work in the Muse d’Orsey. In Paris he developed his enduring attachment to the works of the French Impressionists. In 1989 his attention turned to Germany where he lived and worked until 1991. Throughout his stay in Europe, he supported himself though sales of his own work as well as copies made in the museums. He also gave private lessons in oil painting and drawing.