-Early California Impressionist-
Jean Mannheim
Ventura County Star’s “Moorpark Man Keeps Great-Grandfather's Art Contributions Alive”
On February 3rd, 2012, Ventura County Star’s Rachel McGrath covered Reitzell’s book in her article “Moorpark man keeps great-grandfather’s art contributions alive.” McGrath captured Reitzell’s inspiration:
”What struck me as I spoke to dealers and collectors is that his name was fading away as collectors become more investment-driven rather than focusing on historical context. I wanted to position him again as a significant teacher and artist..”
Mannheim Painting Featured on ABC's Comedy Happy Endings
ABC’s hit comedy Happy Endings recently filmed and included a scene at John Burroughs Middle School in Hancock Park which featured Mannheim’s portrait of John Burroughs in the background. The Burroughs portrait is featured on page 109 of Retizell’s From a Versatile Brush: The Lift and Art of Jean Mannheim. The episode first aired on October 5, 2011.
THE HERALD REVIEW’S “BOOKMARK: ARTIST SHAPES HIS IDENTITY PAINTING DECATUR"
Joan Christerson, a member of the board of directors for the James B. Millikin Homestead, admires the portraits of James and his wife Anna, created sometime between 1894-1900 by now famous artist Jean Mannheim. (Herald & Review/Kelly J. Huff)
On Sunday, September 4, 2011, Bob Fallstrom of the Herald Review in Decatur, Illinois, covered Mannheim & Reitzell’s book in his article “Bookmark: Artist shapes his identity painting Decatur.” Fallstrom wrote:
Reitzell’s research on Mannheim’s Midwestern years was aided by Sue Powell of the Decatur Area Arts Council, Pat McDaniel of the Macon County History Museum, Edwin Walker of Millikin University and Leigh Ann Fisher of the Decatur Public Library . . . The first mention of Mannheim’s connection to Decatur was in the Decatur paper in September 1894 – Jean Mannheim of Paris, France, is in the city looking about with a view of locating here. He has exhibited pictures in the Paris exposition and has instructed many American pupils while in France.
California Art Club Newsletter Features Jean Mannheim
Jean Mannheim, (1861-1945): Cultivating Color and Versatility in California
Cover Article by Richard W. Reitzell
Fall 2011 Newsletter
This issue also includes:
• Pam Powell: Painter of Modern-Day Genre by Molly Siple
• Artist As Critic: Art that Inspires – An Interview with Ignat Ignatov Discussing his Moroccan Friends and Jean-Léon Gérôme’s (1824-1904) Pelt Merchant of Cairo by Stephanie Campbell
• Membership Programs and Events
• Collectors’ Circle Corner
• Corporate 100
• Call for Entries
• Chapter News and Events
• News Briefs
• Donations
• Museum/Gallery Exhibitions and Lectures
• Membership News
• New Members
Jean Mannheim
The Fairy Tale, c.1910
Oil on canvas, 39″ x 34″
Private Collection
Smoketree Trio: New Books
on Desert Artists
By Ann Japenga
Jean Mannheim
If you’ve seen the Stephen B. Chase Collection of landscape paintings at the Living Desert, you’re probably familiar with the name Jean Mannheim. The German-born painter was among the earliest wave of artists to paint the desert—visiting as early as 1919—and was a friend of painters Benjamin Brown and William Wendt, the so-called dean of Southern California landscape artists.
Mannheim’s story has been little-known, but–thanks to the painter’s great- grandson, Richard Reitzell—we now have a vivid collection of Mannheim’s work: From a Versatile Brush: The Life and Art of Jean Mannheim. Mannheim was active in the early years of the California Art Club, so the book intersects thematically with the previously mentioned California Light.