[3] After being denied entry into École des Beaux-Arts, he moved to Paris in 1882, where he began teaching mathematics at Collège Chaptal.

Angrand joined the artistic world of the Parisian avant-garde,[5] becoming friends with influential members including Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh,[5] Paul Signac, Maximilien Luce, and Henri-Edmond Cross.

Angrand's Impressionist paintings of the early 1880s, generally depicting rural subjects and containing broken brushstrokes and light-filled colouration, reflect the influences of Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro,[4] and Jules Bastien-Lepage.

[6] Van Gogh was influenced by Angrand's thick brushstrokes and Japanese-inspired compositional asymmetry.

Angrand joined Seurat in plein air painting on La Grande Jatte island.

"[9] Angrand exhibited his work in Paris at Les Indépendants, Galerie Druet, Galérie Durand-Ruel, and Bernheim-Jeune, and also in Rouen.

[4] In the early 1890s, he abandoned painting, instead creating conté drawings and pastels[4] of subjects including rural scenes and depictions of mother and child, realized in dark Symbolist intensity.

As this resulted in rougher optical blending than small dots, he compensated by using more intense colours.