Manz was an art historian and writer for the Gazette des Beaux-Arts.
He was a somewhat cautious commentator on Manet, Monet and Morisot. Writing in 1863, he was the first critic to describe Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (YMSM 38) as a 'Symphonie du blanc'.
Mantz, P., 'Salon de 1863. Peinture et Sculpture, III', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 15, July 1863, pp. 32-64; Monneret, S., L'Impressionisme et son époque, Paris, 1978-1979.