Life Statistics:
Granville Redmond was born in 1871, and died in 1935. His deafness is said to have happened between birth and age two, when he was reportedly ill with scarlet fever. He attended the California School for the Deaf. His de facto mentor was the deaf photographer and teacher Theophilus Hope d'Estrella.
After leaving CSD, Redmond attended the California School of Design, and also studied in Paris. In Paris, his roommate was another well-known deaf artist - the sculptor Douglas Tilden.
Career Facts:
Redmond was a successful California landscape artist, painting in the tonalist style, meaning that he used soft light and shadows in his paintings. He is best known for doing cheerful paintings filled with poppies and other wildflowers, but Redmond actually prefered to do dark paintings. He exhibited at several fairs and expos, winning several awards.
Movie Actor:
Redmond was a good friend of Charlie Chaplin's and had minor roles in several Chaplin films such as The Gold Rush, The Kid, A Dog's Life, and City Lights. Chaplin reportedly learned ASL from Redmond.
Artwork Locations:
Most of Redmond's original paintings are found in California in museums. The California School for the Deaf has his painting "A Winter Scene on the Seine." The following California museums have his paintings, photographs of which can be viewed online:
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art - in museum and online at collectionsonline.lacma.org. "Landscape," "California Poppy Field."
- Orange County Museum of Art - "Silver and Gold"
- Irvine Museum in Irvine, California has at least five of his California-themed paintings
- Oakland Museum of California
Artwork Valued:
Granville Redmond's artworks are VERY collectible. Key auction houses such as Christie's sell his artwork. One auction house listed an estimated value of over $100,000 (in 2006 dollars).
Buying Redmond:
Where can you buy an inexpensive reproduction of Redmond's art? One source is the website www.gregyoungpublishing.com, where I found one poster of "Poppy Fields" for a low price.
Redmond is also frequently mentioned in books on art,particularly California art. However, there does not seem to be any books solely about Redmond currently in print. In 1989, the Oakland Museum of California did publish a very rare book about Redmond (ASIN B0006EQ0K4).
