Granville Redmond

Granville Redmond lived two artistic lives: California’s beloved painter of poppy fields and silvery nocturnes, and a silent-film actor who kept a studio on Charlie Chaplin’s lot and appeared in his pictures. Deaf from childhood scarlet fever, he turned expression itself into a career twice over — and his golden hillsides blazing with poppies remain among the most desired images in California art.

Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates for Redmond’s work: send photographs of the front, back, and signature and our specialists will respond promptly.

Who Was Granville Redmond?

Redmond was born in Philadelphia in 1871 and lost his hearing to scarlet fever as a small child. At the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley his talent was recognized and nurtured; he went on to the San Francisco Art Association’s school and then, on scholarship, to Paris and the Académie Julian, where a large landscape of his was accepted to the Salon.

Back in California he painted the coast from Laguna to Monterey, in two registers: the quiet, Tonalist moonlights and twilights he privately preferred, and the sunlit hillsides of golden poppies and lupine that the public demanded and that made his name. Los Angeles and later Northern California knew him as the state’s poet of both moods.

Chaplin, drawn to a fellow master of pantomime, befriended him, gave him studio space on the film lot, and cast him in features including City Lights. Redmond kept painting through the film years and died in Los Angeles in 1935.

What Did Redmond Paint?

The signature Redmonds are spring hillsides of California poppies — sheets of orange through green fields, often with oaks or a distant blue range — and the marine and eucalyptus nocturnes in moonlight, silver-toned and still. He painted the length of the state’s coast and valleys in oil.

Collectors chase both moods, but the poppy pictures carry the fame; Redmond himself reportedly sighed that the public would let him paint nothing else.

How Much Is My Granville Redmond Painting Worth?

Several things determine what a work by Granville Redmond brings at auction:

• Subject — poppy and wildflower hillsides lead the market emphatically; nocturnes are prized by connoisseurs and museums
• Scale and profusion — the large canvases where the bloom fills the field are the prizes
• Quality of light — his best pictures glow — in either register — and the market pays for it
• Condition — unlined, uncleaned surfaces are rewarded, especially in the delicate nocturnes
• Provenance — early California gallery and family histories are common and add confidence

The honest answer is that no two are alike, and the difference between an ordinary example and an exceptional one is a conversation with a specialist, not a chart. Send us photographs through our free auction estimate form — front, back, signature, and any labels — and we will tell you what you have.

The Market for Redmond

Redmond stands at the top of the California Impressionist market: typical works bring five figures at auction, and major poppy landscapes have reached six figures in recent years. California institutions and collectors anchor a deep, loyal demand that has strengthened for decades.

Nocturnes, smaller canvases, and atypical subjects trade across a wide range, so a specialist estimate on the specific picture is the honest starting point.

How to Sell a Work by Redmond

The strongest results for a Granville Redmond painting come at auction, where national and international collectors bid against each other. Revere Auctions offers free, no-obligation auction estimates: send photos and dimensions and our specialists respond with a current market valuation and a recommendation on how to sell. Consigned works are professionally photographed, cataloged, and marketed through our fine art auctions to a worldwide bidder base, and we regularly arrange shipping for consignors across the country. If you need a formal written valuation for insurance or estate purposes, our appraisal and valuation services team can help; you can also read more about how selling at auction works.

Related: American & Western paintings, our fine art department, appraisal services, free auction estimates.

Reviewed by the fine art specialists at Revere Auctions, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Granville Redmond: Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a Granville Redmond painting worth?

Typical works bring five figures at auction and major poppy landscapes have reached six figures. Subject, scale, and light drive the range. Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates from photographs.

What is Granville Redmond famous for?

California poppy fields in full bloom and quiet moonlit nocturnes — and a second career acting in silent films with Charlie Chaplin, who befriended him and kept a studio for him on the film lot.

Was Granville Redmond deaf?

Yes — scarlet fever took his hearing in early childhood. He was educated at the California School for the Deaf, communicated in sign, and Chaplin reportedly credited him with sharpening his own pantomime.

Where can I sell a Granville Redmond painting?

At auction with a house that reaches California and Western art collectors. Revere Auctions offers free estimates and formal appraisals.

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