Born in Milwaukee, Marion Kavanagh was a promising member of an artistic family. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and in New York with William Merritt Chase. She taught painting at the Art Institute of Chicago prior to coming west to paint with William Keith in San Francisco.
In 1903, Keith suggested she visit Elmer Wachtel in Los Angeles to continue her studies. The two artists fell in love and were married the following year. Together they became an important aspect of the emerging Los Angeles art community and painted side by side until Elmer's death in 1929. Marion Wachtel was an active exhibitor at the California Watercolor Society and the New York Aquarelists, to which she was elected member in 1922. It is said that Marion Wachtel refrained from painting in oil for fear that her work would eclipse that of Elmer's. After his death, she turned to oils but these paintings do not match the quality of her watercolors.
Wachtel's watercolors are noted for the unique representation of the California light, often set in the early morning or in the late afternoon, with long, soft shadows contrasting the golden light of evening. Her paintings are carefully observed and realistic portraits of the land, yet they appear to be casual exercises, with a relaxed and unhurried feel.
Lifting Clouds, Ojai 18" x 24" wc/p