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ELMER WACHTEL
Noted master of Southern California Impressionism, Elmer Wachtel is best known for his sweeping early 20th century plein-air landscapes. Often painted in earth tones juxtaposed with brilliant blue and green highlights, Wachtel emphasized the rendition of natural light and atmospheric effects. His original oil paintings often feature beautiful, balanced compositions with multiple visually interesting elements and he frequently explores of the play of sunlight on the water, hillsides, and trees. His favorite subjects were the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, Coastal Scenes and seascapes, and Panoramic Mountain Views.
Elmer Wachtel was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1864, and at 18 moved to San Gabriel, California, where his brother had married Guy Rose’s sister, and was foreman on the Rose Ranch. Elmer had taught himself to play the violin, and in 1888 became the first violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Discovering his visual arts talents late in life, Wachtel entered the Art Students League in New York in 1900. Upon his return to Los Angeles, Wachtel continued to earn money as a violinist while also building his reputation as an artist and teacher. One of Wachtel’s pupils, Marion Ida Kavanagh, an outstanding artist in her own right, became his wife in 1904. Elmer and Marion Wachtel would become two of the most recognized names in early California painting, with Elmer working in oils, and Marion in watercolors to avoid competition between each other. They were married for 25 years, and spent a lot of that time traveling together in a specially made car that carried all the materials the two artists would need. In the later portion of their careers they had a studio in the Arroyo Seco of Pasadena.
Artworks from this era that depict a quieter, less hurried pace serve to inspire us to connect with California’s past and to the land and environment around us. In her welcoming statement for the Irvine Museum, the institution's founder, real estate heiress Joan Irvine Smith notes that "Much of what originally made California a 'Golden Land' was directly linked to the environment, especially the land and water that nurtured and sustained a rare quality of life. Over a hundred years ago, the splendor of nature fascinated artists and compelled them to paint beautiful paintings. As we view these rare and remarkable paintings, we are returned, all too briefly, to a time long ago when the land and its bounty were open and almost limitless."
Elmer Wachtel passed away while on a sketching trip in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1929. He is remembered as a co-founder of the Los Angeles Art Association, and his works can be found in the permanent collections of the Laguna Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Huntington Library.
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