Fleischer Museum
American Collection of Impressionism
The California School

Elmer Wachtel was one of the first professional artists to live in Los Angeles, arriving in 1882, three years before the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad's Chicago route which would precipitate the first great Los Angeles land boom. To supplement his meager income from painting. Wachtel also played violin in various orchestras. Sometime about 1894, Wachtel moved to New York and briefly studied at the Art Students League with William Merritt Chase. He returned to California in 1896, staying with William Keith in San Francisco before coming home to Los Angeles. In 1903, he met Marion Kavanagh, a young artist who had been studying with Keith, and married her the next year. Together they spent more than twenty-five years travelling and painting together. In 1929, Elmer Wachtel died while on a painting trip in Guadalajara, Mexico. Wachtel's style evolved from a traditional approach, based on the works of the French Barbizon painters, such as Diaz de la Pena and Theodore Rousseau. These earlier paintings are often dark and somber, with a small area of clear sky in the center of the painting. With time, Wachtel became influenced by Impressionism and used a lighter, more colorful palette, and a somewhat freer brush. He continued, however, to rely on tightly defined forms and solid draftsmanship. California Poppies, 17" x 24" O/C