Granville Redmond

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Granville Redmond (1871 – 1935) was an American painter.

1 Early years
2 California School for the Deaf
3 At the San Francisco School for Design
4 Studying and working in Paris
5 Back in California
6 Working with Chaplin
7 Works on display today
8 AWARDS
9 External links

[edit] Early years

Granville Richard Seymour Redmond was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 9, 1871 to a hearing family. He contracted Scarlet Fever at around 2 1/2 to the age of 3; when he recovered, he was found to be deaf. This may have prompted his family's decision to move from the East Coast to San Jose, California: the possibility for his education at the Berkeley School for the Deaf.

[edit] California School for the Deaf

Granville attended the Berkeley School for the Deaf (later the California School for the Deaf) from 1879 to 1890 where his artistic talents were recognized and encouraged. There his teacher Theophilus d'Estrella taught him painting, drawing and pantomime.

[edit] At the San Francisco School for Design

When he graduated from CSD, Redmond enrolled at another CSD: the California School of Design in San Francisco, where he worked for three years with teachers such as Arthur Matthews and Amedee Joullion. He famously won the W. E. Brown Medal of Excellence. He associated with many other artists, including Gottardo Piazzoni and Giuseppe Cadenasso. Piazzoni learned American Sign Language and he and Redmond were lifelong friends. They lived together in Parkfield, California, and Tiburon.

[edit] Studying and working in Paris

1893 saw Redmond win a scholarship from California School of the Deaf and from the School of Design, which made it possible for him to study in Paris at the Academie Julian under teachers Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. At the Academie Julian, he roomed with sculptor Douglas Tilden, famous Deaf sculptor and another graduate of the California School for the Deaf. In 1895 in Paris his painting Matin d'Hiver, was accepted for the Paris Salon.

[edit] Back in California

In 1898, he returned to California and settled in Los Angeles, where he painted many beautiful beach scenes. He was married in 1899 to Carrie Ann Jean, a former student of the Illinois School for the Deaf. Together they had three children. It is not known if they were Deaf or could hear.

[edit] Working with Chaplin

While living in Los Angeles, he became friends with Charles Chaplin, who admired the natural expressiveness of a Deaf person using American Sign Language. Chaplin asked Redmond to help him develop the techniques Chaplin later used in his silent films. Chaplin, impressed with Redmond's skill gave Redmond a studio on the movie lot, collected his paintings, and sponsored him in silent acting roles - the sculptor in City Lights for example.

During this time Redmond did not neglect his painting. Through Chaplin he met Los Angeles neighbor artists Elmer Wachtel and Norman St. Clair. They showed works at the Spring Exhibition held in San Francisco in 1904. By 1905 Redmond was receiving considerable recognition as a leading landscape painter and bold colorist. His artwork was sometimes compared to Matisse; he loved painting flowers and dark, moody scenes.

He died on May 24, 1935 in Los Angeles.

[edit] Works on display today

His work is in a variety of collections: Granville Redmond Gallery, California; the Irvine Museum, California; Laguna Beach Museum of Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University; the De Young Museum, the Bancroft Library; California School for the Deaf; the New York City Museum, and the Oakland Museum.

[edit] AWARDS

Awards: Gold Medal, W. E. Brown Award, California School of Design, 1891; Medal, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 1904; Silver Medal, Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition, Seattle, Washington, 1909