Biografie von Granville Seymour REDMOND (1871-1935)

Birth place: Philadelphia, PA

Death place: Los Angeles, CA

Addresses: San Jose, CA, c.1874; Los Angeles, CA, 1898

Profession: Painter

Studied: Berkeley Sch. Deaf, 1879-90, with Theophilus Hope D'Estrella; San Fran. Sch. Des. with Mathews & Joullin; Acad. Julian, Paris, with J.P. Laurens & Constant, 1893.

Exhibited: Paris Salon, 1895; Louisiana Purchase Expo, 1904 (med.); Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expo, Seattle, 1909 (med.); Del Monte Gal., Monterey, 1911, 1913; PPE, 1915; San Fran. AA (gold, prize); Oakland Mus., 1989 (retrospective)

Member: Bohemian Club; San Fran. AA; Calif. AC; Laguna Beach AA

Work: Bancroft Lib., Univ. Calif., Berkeley; Calif. Sch. Deaf, Fremont; Laguna Mus.; LACMA; NYC Mus.; Mills College Art Gal.; Oakland Mus.; Stanford Univ. Mus.; Springville (UT) Mus. Art; Nat. Center Deafness; Calif. State Univ.; de Young Mus.; Capitol, Olympia, WA; Jonathan Club, Los Angeles.

Comments: Born Grenville Richard Seymour Redmond, he changed his first name to Granville c.1889. Deaf from scarlet fever at age three, Redmond received lessons in art and encouragement to pursue art studies from Theophilus Hope D'Estrella (at Berkeley School for the Deaf), who himself was a deaf-mute and a pupil of Virgil Williams (see entry). Position: affiliated with the Charlie Chaplin Film Co., Los Angeles. He became good friends with Charlie Chaplin and helped him perfect his pantomime technique for the movies. Chaplin in turn cast him in his movies, most notably as the sculptor in City Lights. Specialty: tonal landscapes and bright, colorful renderings of wildflowers. Realistic in his approach, he believed that nature changed constantly and quickly, and a painting should reflect the artist's conception of form, design and color.

Sources: WW33; Hughes, Artists in California, 459; 300 Years of American Art, 641.