Manhattan Beach Artists 'Rediscovered' In A Step Back In Time

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — He started living here in Manhattan Beach in 1909 at 609 13th Street, according to records. Before that, he and his family had a home in Los Angeles and Albert Clinton Conner painted. In fact, he was so keen on art that he'd formed The Painters' Club of Los Angeles in 1906. The club disbanded in 1909.

But AC Conner was a man who loved to paint, so he continued to do so, as he'd done all his life since before 1881 when he founded The Ramblers' Sketch Club in his home state of Indiana.

In Manhattan Beach, Conner painted the coast and whatever caught his eye. In 1912, he was elected as the first city treasurer for the newly formed City of Manhattan Beach. He died in Manhattan Beach on April 13, 1929, leaving a rich legacy of art and city stewardship in its early years.

So just how did enough of Conner's works come together to be exhibited by the city in "Rediscovered: The Life and Art of AC Conner and Eva Joseph Goldsheid"?

As it turns out, the City of Manhattan Beach has owned 9 of Conner's paintings for quite some time. "Unfortunately, we are unsure of their provenance and how/when they came to be a part of our collection," Eilen Stewart, acting manager of cultural arts for the city.

"In 2017, City Council asked us to research and develop an exhibition of his artwork and shortly after that time, we connected with his family — Jill and Judith Hilts — who own a significant number of his work," noted Stewart. "We were able to obtain a few additional pieces on loan from the Hilts sisters as well as some fantastic information and a few artifacts belonging to AC Conner."

Conner's work takes one right into nature: Santa Ynez Canyon, untitled beach scenes once can imagine as Manhattan Beach, California Arroyos, Canyon Pass, forests, streams, wildflowers, trees, San Francisquito Canyon, the Camp Baldy area, the Santa Ana Wash near Arcadia, fog breaking in Monrovia, the Bright Angel Trail in Arizona's Grand Canyon, his Manhattan Beach house in 1909. Only one piece is a bit jarring: Stranded, which depicts a shoreline ship wreck.

But Conner's work is not the only art in the exhibit: the art of Eva Joseph Goldsheid is presented as well.

"We knew of Eva’s work," Stewart said, "through her [art] students who continued to meet at the Manhattan Beach Art Center to paint after she passed away. One of her students, Ann Pitts, was instrumental in assembling information about Eva’s work and life, and also loaned quite a few of her pieces, which she owns. Eva’s daughter Sumi Berney also owns a large collection of her work and was able to loan some pieces to the exhibition."

For Joseph Goldsheid, her road to Manhattan Beach is a contrast to Conner's. In 1991, the already-accomplished and known artist moved to the South Bay to be closer to her daughter. She taught art classes at the South Bay Adult School in Manhattan Beach. Joseph Goldsheid died in 2016 in Redondo Beach, according to a website dedicated to her.

She was born in Germany on March 20, 1926 into an Orthodox Jewish family. Her father died when she was 11 and she and her mother fled Nazi Germany soon afterward. The two emigrated to New York in 1938, leaving behind everything they owned.

She began her study of art in college and went on to achieve two degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, a bachelor's and master's. She took classes at the California School of Fine Arts [San Francisco Art Institute], exhibited her work many times, and eventually taught art classes.

Joseph Goldsheid's work is abstract, some pieces in black and white, some in bright colors. Lines, shapes, textures. It's work that is very different than Conner's. It dances across the screen, grabs you in. Every now and then, a line or angle looks like writing, perhaps a word, a symbol.

Her black and white works lean toward a darker sensibility, a jumbled sense of humanity. Her nudes hint at two where we see one.

Said Stewart of the exhibit, which is online through March 21, "We knew we would have the AC Conner exhibition in January 2021 and felt that adding Eva Joseph Goldsheid’s work would round out a story of Manhattan Beach artists as well as showcase our history and local talent."