Granville Redmond Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, b. 1871 - d. 1935

(b. March 9, 1871, Philadelphia, PA; d. May 24, 1935, Los Angeles, CA) American painter. At age two and a half, Granville Seymour Redmond contracted scarlet fever and was left permanently deaf and mute. His family moved to San Jose, California in 1874, and he attended the Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind at Berkley in 1879. During his schooling, he worked with deaf photographer Theophilus Hope d’Estrella, who recognized and encouraged his artistic abilities. Redmond went on to study art at the California School of Design in San Francisco and at the Academie Julian in Paris. In 1895, one of his large paintings, titled “Matin d’Hiver,” was accepted at the Salon. Returning from France in 1898, Redmond moved to Los Angeles where he opened his own studio. In 1899, Redmond married Carrie Ann Jean, also a deaf mute, and the couple had three children. From 1910 to 1917, Redmond spent time in northern California, painting the landscape and flowers that he loved. When Redmond returned to Los Angeles in 1917, he was interested in acting and became close friends with Charlie Chaplin. Between 1918 and 1929, Redmond had minor roles in several of Chaplin’s movies. Chaplin became a patron of Redmond’s work and gave him space on his movie lot to set up a painting studio. During Redmond’s career, he painted and lived throughout California, including the coast and is considered to have been one of America’s best Impressionist and landscape painters. He is renowned for his deep understanding and use of color; and depictions of California landscapes: poppies and lupines, rolling hills and seascapes.