Jean Mannheim

HIS LIFE

 

Jean Mannheim (1861 – 1945)

 

Born in November of 1861, Jean Mannheim grew up in Kreuznach, Germany. At age seventeen, he left home and began to journey throughout Germany making a living by binding books and painting portraits on the side. Shortly after being drafted into the German army, Mannheim defected and traveled to Paris to learn English and began his art studies. From 1884 to 1908, Mannheim settled in the US, calling both Decatur, Illinois and Denver, Colorado home at times, while continuing to travel back to Paris for his art studies at respected Paris schools, including the Academie Julian. During this time he married Eunice Drennan and the couple had two daughters, who were often portrayed in his work over the years.

   

When the Mannheims returned to America in the fall of 1908 they settled in Pasadena, California on the banks of the Arroyo Seco. Mannheim immediately immersed himself in the Southern California art scene and became an active exhibitor over the next three decades and was a member of numerous organizations including the California Art Club and the Laguna Beach Art Association among others. He continued to teach and mentor the young artists of the day and with C. P. Townsley founded the Stickney Memorial Art School in Pasadena in 1914. During this period Mannheim’s portrait business flourished with clients including attorney John Mitchell, industrialist King Gillette, artist William Wendt, and naturalist John Burroughs among the most notable. He also began painting impressionistic landscapes of the nearby Arroyo Seco and of the rugged scenery of the Monterey Peninsula during annual summer trips to the area. His work was exhibited and recognized with gold medals at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition in Seattle and the 1916 Panama-California International Exposition in San Diego and he exhibited in the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. During this period, he added a newer style of painting casual portraits in the outdoors to his portfolio. These paintings featured young female models and were widely acclaimed and extended the possibilities of the genre.

 

Throughout his career Mannheim took painting excursions which would extend to Colorado and Oregon, as well as the many favorite artist locales within Southern California including Morro Bay, Laguna Beach and Dana Point, the High Sierras, and the desert of the Coachella Valley. During this period he continued to exhibit frequently, often at the newly developed Pasadena art venues that included Carmelita Gardens and the Pasadena Art Institute. Mannheim continued to prolifically paint throughout the 1930s depression era despite being in his seventies and the artist maintained an active exhibition schedule with his work seen at venues that included the California State Fairs, Stanford University, the Ebell and Friday Morning Clubs in Los Angeles, as well as local exhibits around Pasadena. In 1945, following a stroke, Mannheim’s health took a turn for the worse and he died at his home in Pasadena on September 7, 1945 at the age of eighty-three.

 

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

 

Jean Mannheim, Artist

 

Born: November 18, 1861, at Kreuznach on the Nahe, Prussia, of German and French parentage.

 

Died: September 6, 1945 in Pasadena, California

 

Schools: L’ Ecole Delecluse, The Academy Colorossi, Academie Julian, The London School of Art

 

Pupil of: Paul De Lancey, Bouguereau, Cormon, Julian and Frank Brangwyn

Instructor in: Frank Brangwyn’s London Art Institute, Florence Art School (Italy), The Denver Art School

 

Founder: The Stickney Memorial School of Fine Arts, Pasadena, CA

 

Major Exhibitions: National Academy (New York), Salon (Paris), Munich Art Gallery, Belgium Art Gallery, Museum of Natural History (New York), Artist’s Cooperative Gallery (New York), San Francisco Institute of Art, Los Angeles Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, Stanford University Art Gallery, Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition (Seattle, 1909, Gold Medal), Panama-Pacific International Exposition (San Francisco, 1915), Panama-California Exposition (San Diego, 1915, Gold & Silver Medals), California-Pacific International Exposition (San Diego, 1935-36), Golden Gate International Exposition (San Francisco, 1939), California State Fair (Gold Medal), Arizona State Fair (Gold Medal), London School of Art (First Prize)

 

Museum Collections: Carnegie Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, Irvine Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, The Museum of Art at Brigham-Young University, Mobile Museum of Art, The National Portrait Gallery, The Smithsonian Institute, Oakland Museum of California