Jean Mannheim

Pathway to the Church, c. 1915

c. 1915

Born in November of 1861, Jean Mannheim grew up in Kreuznach, Germany. At 17, 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 Académie 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 and 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 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 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 Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition in Seattle (1909) and Panama-California International Exposition in San Diego (1916) and he exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco (1915). 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, 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 70s and the artist maintained an active exhibition schedule with his work seen at venues that included the California State Fairs, Stanford University, 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 83.