There is no record of Meador meeting Ritschel, and Redmond died a year before Meador arrived in California, but he knew and respected their work.

Joshua Meador's widow and son have both passed away now, but in previous conversations with Libby and Philip Meador, they explained that Josh was awed by the paintings of Granville Redmond and William Ritschel.

Joshua and Libby purchased their first California home in La Crescenta, in the Verdugo hills north of LA. Although Granville Redmond died the year before, their La Crescenta home was next door to Redmond's widow and daughter, and the artist's studio. Josh listened and learned from his new neighbors about Redmond's life and career, and created the painting pictured below of the Redmonds' La Crescenta home.

Libby and Phil also expressed that Josh was excited by the beauty of Carmel and was deeply impressed with the work of William Ritschel. Between 1955 and 1960, Joshua Meador maintained his studio and home near where Ritschel built his famous Castle by the Sea.

Although he continued to paint and exhibit elsewhere, his initial summer visits grew into William Ritschel's calling Carmel his home. In 1918, he built “Castel a Mare”, his castle-like home in the Carmel Highlands area, perched directly on the ocean’s edge.

Fellow Carmel artist Armin Hansen moved to Carmel in 1913. He eventually met William Ritschel five years later in 1918. Ritschel arranged for Hansen's work to be shown in a New York Gallery. This boost to Hansen's career was immeasurable, as Hansen became one of California's most famed and respected painters of the California Coast.

Ritschel was born in Nurnberg, Germany in 1864. In 1883, he signed up for a four year stint as a cadet in the Imperial German Navy. In 1886, while serving on the proud frigate Prinz Frederick Karl II, the ship's captain gave Cadet Ritschel the use of an officer's cabin and commissioned him to paint sea shells. Little did Ritschel know at the time that this commission would lead to one of his works ending up in a prestigious collection. One of these shells was presented to the future King of England, Edward II, on the Island of Malta.

After the Navy, Ritschel studied at the Royal Academy in Munich. During these years, he summered along the Dutch Coast, painting the sea. He became renowned for his marine scenes and his studies of horses.

In 1895, Ritschel, now 30, accepted an invitation from a cousin living in New York. He loved the New World, and by 1900 he was living in Suffolk County, New York. He married Bella Zora Hollingsorth, a woman ten years younger than himself and a widow from Texas. At age 40, in 1904, Ritschel became a naturalized citizen.

Ritshel was successful as an artist and was able to pay for trips around America and to Europe. In 1911, he visited California and spent his first summer painting in Carmel. The next year he visited France for four months, and the following year, he painted and exhibited in Norway.

In 1916, he held a one man exhibition at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute, not far from downtown Manhattan. He featured paintings of Carmel. The exhibition was well received, and Carmel's natural beauty was appreciated by many New Yorkers. Following is a review from Brooklyn's Daily Eagle, published in the Spring of 1916, praising Rischel's paintings, saying "they grip the imagination while gratifying a natural craving for truth."

Granville Redmond lost his hearing as a small child, and it was Redmond's deafness along with his artistic sense which intrigued Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin was so taken by Redmond that he included Redmond in eight of his films. On the movie lot, Chaplin provided Redmond a painting studio and became an avid collector and an influential promoter of Redmond's work.

When just a toddler, young Redmond suffered a case of scarlet fever which left him deaf and mute. He attended the California School of the Deaf in Berkeley (now UC's Clark Kerr Campus). His teacher in Berkeley, Theodophilus D'Estrella, encouraged Redmond to study art at the San Francisco School of Design under Arthur Mathews and Amedee Joullin.

At the school, he became friends with other Tonalist artists, Gottardo Piazzoni and Giuseppe Cadenasso. Both encouraged young Redmond, and Piazzoni was so moved to learn sign language, a step which insured a life-long friendship with Redmond.

Next up for the talented Redmond was study in Paris at the Academie Julian where he studied under Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. He shared living quarters with Douglas Tilden, a fellow graduate of the California School

1. City Lights (1931) -- Redmond plays the role of  a sculptor; this film was written & directed by Charlie Chaplin. The little tramp (Chaplin) falls in love with a blind flower girl.

2. You'd Be Surprised (1926) -- Redmond plays the role of a butler and deputy coroner.

3. A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923) -- Redmond plays a party guest. Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin.

4. The Idle Class (1921) -- it was also known as Vanity Fair; Redmond played a guest. Considered one of Chaplin's best short comedies, Chaplin plays the dual role of a tramp and a rich idler.

5. The Kid (1921) -- Redmond played a friend to a leading character. Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, the tramp finds and takes care of an orphaned boy (Jackie Coogan).

6. A Day's Pleasure (1919) -- also known as "A Ford Story;" Redmond played a boat passenger. Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin.

7. Sunnyside (1919) -- Chaplin plays a farm hand who falls in love with the neighbor's daughter. (uncertain what role Redmond played)

8. A Dog's Life (1918) -- Redmond plays a dance hall proprietor. The little tramp (Chaplin) and his dog struggle to survive in the inner city.

Linda Sorensen's Paintings can now be seen at the Bodega Landmark Gallery Collection, the gallery in the inland town of Bodega at the west end of Bodega Highway (Hwy 12), a half block from the Casino, and just across from the General Store and the Bodega Volunteer Fire Department.

Our thanks to Lorenzo De Santis for showing Linda's work and hope you can all stop in and see this wonderful (and renovated) gallery very soon.

Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery is not at present a "brick and mortar" storefront gallery. We've moved out and now exist as an online only gallery, although arrangements can be made to view specific artworks. Please keep in touch with us by phone, email, our website, and our newsletters to keep up on where Linda's artist studio lands, and what new ways we may find to show and celebrate historic California art beyond the website itself.

Soon: a new gallery in our former Highway One space. Pacific Bay Gallery will open next door to The Ren Brown Collection, featuring the work of resident artist Noki Jones. We'll keep you informed about the opening of Pacific Bay Gallery in our newsletter. And we'll also keep you informed about where to acquire the watercolors of Jean Warren and the photographs of Diane Perry.

Bentonville, AR
Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art