Class of Summer 1923
Jean Mannheim
b. Kreuznach, Germany,1862
d. Pasadena, California, 1945
The Magic Moment, c.
1923 Oil on canvas 28 x 36 inches
Jean Mannheim made his first trip to the desert in 1919, when he visited a friend’s ranch, most likely in the Mojave Desert. Mannheim returned many times thereafter on painting trips, enjoying the immensity of the land, and its solitude and quiet. The Magic Moment is a quickly painted record of a vision Mannheim experienced in the desert when the setting sun gloriously illuminated a distant mountain ridge. In the deeply shaded foreground, dominated by a rocky slope and permeated with the chill of twilight, a sandy wash, filled with creosote, curves into the distance. This was one of four paintings that Gardena High School collected by Mannheim, who was one of the most beloved of their artists.
GIFTED: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School, 1919-1956 is organized by the GHS Art Collection, Inc, in association with the Gardena High School Student Body and curated by Susan M. Anderson.
