Granville Redmond

Granville Redmond (1871-1935) produced paintings capturing California's diversetopography, vegetation, and color. Representing both northern and southern parts ofthe state, these range from contemplative Tonalist works that evoke a quiet calm, todramatic and colorful Impressionist scenes. Born in Philadelphia, he contracted scarletfever as a toddler, which left him permanently deaf. Soon thereafter, his family moved toCalifornia, where he attended the California Institution for the...
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Granville Redmond (1871-1935) produced paintings capturing California's diversetopography, vegetation, and color. Representing both northern and southern parts ofthe state, these range from contemplative Tonalist works that evoke a quiet calm, todramatic and colorful Impressionist scenes. Born in Philadelphia, he contracted scarletfever as a toddler, which left him permanently deaf. Soon thereafter, his family moved toCalifornia, where he attended the California Institution for the Education of the Deaf andDumb, and the Blind in Berkeley (now California School for the Deaf in Fremont).Redmond subsequently trained at the California School of Design in San Francisco and theAcadémie Julian in Paris. Upon his 1898 return to California after four years abroad, he openedhis first painting studio in Los Angeles, where he painted landscapes. He ultimately becamebest known for colorful Impressionist depictions of California hillsides and meadows ablazewith poppies and other native flora. Silent film star Charlie Chaplin, Redmond's friend andsupporter, said of these paintings, "There's such a wonderful joyousness about them all. Lookat the gladness in that sky, the riot of color in those flowers. Sometimes I think that the silencein which he lives has developed in him some sense, some great capacity for happiness in whichwe others are lacking." Today, Redmond is considered one of California's top early artists.