Redmond was born in 1901 in
Grand Rapids, a city in
western Michigan. He was the firstborn of four children of William Redmond, a printer, and his wife Carrie McKay. Redmond moved to Southern California in 1912. He completed two years of high school education. By 1920 Redmond lived in
Redondo Beach in the
South Bay region of greater Los Angeles.
Art career Redmond started studying with Staunton Macdonald-Wright at the
Art Students League of Los Angeles by 1926. He was considered "one of the most talented of Macdonald-Wright's disciples".
Herman Cherry later recalled the era in an article for
Arts magazine: By 1928 or 1929, Redmond was doing scenery painting for the
Santa Monica Theater Guild alongside Macdonald-Wright and Art Students League members Carl Winter and Albert King. Redmond and King were the co-founders of what was called the Younger Artists Group that exhibited together between 1928 and 1932, at
Barnsdall Park Art Center, the
Los Angeles Museum,
Santa Monica Public Library, and the
Hollywood Library. The Younger Artists described themselves as "young in a sense of growth" but exhibited "advanced and mature" artworks. '' (n.d.) by James M. Redmond; this oil on canvas portrait of another member of the Art Students League is in the
synchromist style After Macdonald-Wright resigned as president of the Art Students' League of Los Angeles, Redmond took over, maintaining the group's studio on
Spring Street above the
Lyceum Theater between Second and Third, and adeptly administering the organization. Beginning in June 1932, Redmond scheduled classes and models, and collected fees, and even lived in the studio for a time, no doubt to keep his personal expenses down during the financial doldrums of the
Great Depression. Around this time the art critic for the
Los Angeles Times wrote, "Starting with the style of his teacher, S. Macdonald-Wright, Redmond has developed something of his own...Redmond begins to seem more essentially a painter than does his master...Redmond grows in esteem as his works are repeatedly studied". Under Macdonald-Wright's influence, Redmond began studying Asian art styles, history, and philosophy. Redmond "maintained close friendships with Asian American artists" and became fluent in both
Japanese and
Chinese. One of the ways he attempted to increase enrollment was by advertising in the local Japanese-language newspaper
Kashū Mainichi. Circa 1935 he began working on prints with
lithographer Lynton Kistler. In addition to exhibiting widely in California, Redmond had pieces shown at the
Carl Fischer Art Gallery in New York, when he was featured in the
Ten Pacific Coast Painters exhibit along with Macdonald-Wright,
Nick Brigante,
Conrad Buff,
Thomas Craig,
Charles H. David,
Barse Miller,
Phyllis Shields, and
Vivian Stringfield. Redmond painted a wide array of subjects, including landscapes, portraits and figures, still lifes, and botanicals, but he particularly drew compliment from
Los Angeles Times art critic
Arthur Millier (and others) for his pictures of cats. Millier later called
Siamese Cat the "finest canvas" at Redmond's memorial show, with "sheerly beautiful composition" and "strong color harmony". the
Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the
Whitney in New York. In 1938 Redmond was hired by the
Federal Art Project's
Community Art Center program to teach art and serve as director of the Butte Art Center in
Montana. He worked there for a "few months" before returning to California. Redmond also produced artworks for Phineas Banning Junior High School, in
Wilmington, California,
San Pedro High School, and a triptych mural on the history of science for
Manual Arts High School that was exhibited, prior to installation, at the Los Angeles county museum in
Exposition Park in 1939. According to
Artists in California, 1786–1940 by
Edan Milton Hughes, other Redmond commissions during New Deal were done for the Compton post office in
Los Angeles County, the
Santa Paula post office in
Ventura County, and the San Diego Art Museum.
Early California ,
manzanita,
Matilija poppies, and
Calchortus) throughout the design Redmond is probably best known today for the mural
Early California that he painted for the U.S. post office building in downtown
Compton, California, opposite the
Compton station of the
A Line (Los Angeles Metro) light rail, which at the time of painting in 1936 would have been a station of
Pacific Electric's
Long Beach Line streetcars.
Chaffey College art history professor Orville Clarke wrote in 1998 that "One of the most beautiful sets of mural panels executed under government sponsorship during the depression is James Redmond's panels for the Compton Post Office. Unfortunately, because of their location, they are also one of the least visited sites, which is a pity since they are so captivating in person". The curators of a 2008 exhibit on the Art Students League wrote that Early California "clearly shows the resonance of the League...employs an Asian-influenced landscape by way of his study at the League, and uses flat, brilliant color patterns that evince his careful study of modernism". Redmond was assisted in his painting which primarily occurred at the League building, by
Donald Totten and Valentine Costello. The piece covers all four walls of the lobby, including a -long main panel opposite the front door. The subject matter is the "history of early California, particularly the Los Angeles area" including portraits of Spanish colonial explorers and missionaries,
Fermín de Lasuén,
Gaspar de Portolá,
Junípero Serra, and
Juan Bautista de Anza. Redmond was conscious of Compton's history, including its history as part of
Rancho San Pedro, did extensive research for the mural, writing program administrators that "I am using every source of reference procurable in early pictures, museums and histories of the period to furnish data for authentic details of racial types, clothing and equipment, such as saddles, bridles, etc." California travel writer Brad Nixon comments that Redmond's conscientious approach is evident in the final product: "Those people have 'weight.' They look like they're standing, kneeling on the ground or sitting in the saddle; they're not floating. And they're working, pointing, posed convincingly. I don't doubt that Mr. Redmond researched the clothing, tools and horse-drawn vehicles".
Early California is also recognized for Redmond's skillful design and use of color: a "high key palette that turns the room into a kaleidoscope of colors" as "the eye is carried around by a complex pattern of diagonals. He holds the entire painting together by his use of greens of various hues. Redmond takes a complex arrangement and makes it look deceptively simple. It is through this masterful handling of color and form that Redmond is able to unify the entire room and capture our attention." Federal art program administrator
Bernard Roufberg was also complimentary of Redmond's work: "Unlike many mural painters, Redmond makes a rough sketch of his design and color, and then works on his mural making changes as he progresses, rather than making a finely finished design and then 'blowing it up' to size as he puts it. His mural is one of the handsomest things I have ever seen and to me it looked like a jewel".
World War II By the 1940s, Redmond was considered a notable Los Angeles "artist of the modern school". When the United States entered World War II, Redmond enlisted in the U.S. Army in November 1942, Redmond was part of a unit that landed on
Omaha Beach on
D-Day. An interview with Staff Sergeant Redmond is one of the
primary sources for the description of the assault on Fox Green sector in the U.S. Army's history of the combat engineers in the
European Theater: After successfully overwhelming the German defenders at
Normandy, Redmond and the rest of the 299th continued moving through
Fortress Europe for the next six months, clearing junk, salvaging vehicles, and building bridges over assorted rivers on the road to Hitler's headquarters in Germany. Redmond fought with his unit for six months after D-Day before he was killed in the vicinity of , outside
Martelange, Belgium, in the early morning hours of December 21, 1944. Amidst the
German counteroffensive along the
Belgium–Luxembourg border near the
Sauer River, Redmond's group had been tasked with recapturing the town of Martelange. According to the regimental history of the 299th in World War II, "Captain Manion planned to attack Martelange at dawn, and a patrol had been sent out to contact Lieutenant Jenkins' force. Food, medical supplies, and a radio set with operators from the
127th Engineer Combat Battalion were sent forward with an officer from that organization. Contact was made only twice with these men. All personnel sent forward at that time were later reported
missing in action. It was later confirmed that these men never reached the Witry [command post]." When the 299th was finally relieved and reunited on December 26, a count found that 41 of their number had gone missing during the action in southeastern Belgium. Redmond was reported missing in his local newspaper, the
Saugus Signal of
Santa Clarita Valley, on January 15, 1945. Redmond's body was not identified until March 1945, at which time his widow was notified that he had been
killed in action. Confirmation of his death was made public in June 1945. In July 1945, Albert King, who had been a part of the Art Students' League of Los Angeles, organized a memorial art show featuring 27 of Redmond's artworks. In 1946, Redmond's name was included on the World War II honor roll of the
American Legion post in
Saugus, California. Redmond is buried at
Ardennes American Cemetery near
Neupré, Belgium, in plot D, row 6. His decorations include a
Bronze Star and the French . == Additional images ==