Jean Mannheim

From a Versatile Brush: The Life and Art of Jean Mannheim

 

By Richard W. Reitzell

 

Born in Germany, trained in Paris, and touched by the American Midwest, Jean Mannheim settled in Pasadena in 1908 and quickly became a major figure in California’s art community. For nearly four decades, Mannheim was an active teacher and mentor and a well-known contributor to the Southern California art scene. The title of the book is drawn from a 1916 art review that highlighted the breadth of Mannheim’s paintings, ranging from formal and casual portraits, to scenes of people at work or play, to plein-air landscapes of California’s unspoiled shorelines, valleys, mountains and deserts. His body of work not only provides a glimpse of the impressionist movement that energized and supplied an identity for the burgeoning Southern California population, but also captures and preserves scenic images of a bygone era.

 

In Part I, “His Life,” the author explores the many places Mannheim called home before settling in Pasadena. This section contains many vintage photos and paintings that chronicle Mannheim’s early life and evolving artistic style. The book details little-known aspects of Mannheim’s time in Denver and Illinois and relates the interactions between the artist and his famous portrait subjects including razor-blade founder King Gillette, naturalist John Burroughs and Albert Einstein.

 

In Part II, “His Art,” richly illustrated with 195 color plates in this section alone, Reitzell discusses sixty years of the artist’s work, highlighting the broad range and varying genre and styles of Mannheim’s oeuvre.

 

The book includes an introductory essay by Jean Stern, Executive Director of the Irvine Museum, and provides a full chronology of key events in the artist’s life and an extensive record of his exhibitions.

 

From a Versatile Brush: the Life and Art of Jean Mannheim
By Richard W. Reitzell

Hardcover with jacket, 9.5 H x 12 inches, 260 pages. 385 illustrations
$60 + shipping

Written by the great-grandson of the artist, this book is well researched and quite readable. The best resource for this important artist. 

Irvine Museum

 

This richly illustrated, well-researched book showcases his mastery and versatility with a variety of subject matter...Lavishly illustrated with an abundance of color plates, photographs and historical references... 

DeRu's Fine Arts