Granville Redmond (1871-1935)

One of California's most notable Impressionists and considered the first resident Impressionist of the state. At the age of two and a half, Granville caught scarlet fever which eventually made him totally deaf. In 1879, he attended what was then called the Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind at Berkeley (now called the California School for the Deaf) in Fremont, CA where a teacher recognized his artistic abilities and encouraged his drawing skills, sculpture and pantomime. After graduation, in 1890, he enrolled in the California School of Design. In 1893, with a stipend from the Institution for the Deaf, he went to Paris and enrolled in the Académie Julian. After five years in France he returned to California.

While living in Los Angeles, he became friends with Charlie Chaplin, who helped in perfecting his pantomime techniques. Charlie sponsored him in silent acting roles and was cast in seven silent movies with Chaplin. Granville often used sign language while in these roles. Charlie was a long-time patron of Granville's art, and set up a studio for him on a movie lot.

Redmond's early works were mostly moody tonal landscapes and scenes. He painted around the Laguna Beach, San Pedro and Catalina Island. By 1905 Redmond was receiving considerable recognition as a leading landscape painter and bold colorist.

He spent time in various Northern California locations, studying and painting. About the time he moved farther north to San Mateo, Redmond turned to painting sweeping terrains with colorful wildflowers, especially the purple lupine and the golden poppy, California's state flower. This subject is what he became known for at the time. He style became linked to Impressionism, though he was motivated more by his subjects than by any aesthetic theory. West Coast critics at that time noted his use of pointillism and likened his art to that of Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. Although Redmond recognized the public's preference for his brightly colored poppy pictures, he generally preferred to paint darker, more poetic scenes.