Elmer Wachtel was born in Baltimore, MD on January 21, 1864. When Elmer was quite young, the Wachtel family moved to Lanark, IL where he worked as a hired hand and taught himself to play the violin. At age 18 he moved to San Gabriel, CA where his brother had married the sister of artist Guy Rose and was managing the Rose ranch. Elmer continued playing the violin and in 1888 became first violinist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. During this period his talent in drawing and painting emerged and in 1895 he had saved enough money for one year of study in NYC at the ASL under William M. Chase and in London at the Lambeth School. After returning to California, he lived in Los Angeles with his parents on Griffith Avenue where he continued to paint while supplementing his income as a professional violinist. By 1903 his reputation as a painter was such that William Keith sent him one of his young pupils, Marion Kavanaugh. It was love at first sight and they wed in 1904. Their early married life was spent in a studio on Sichel Street while they later had a studio-home on Mt Washington until building their final home in the Arroyo Seco of Pasadena. The Wachtels traveled around Southern California in a specially-built motor car designed to accommodate their artistic needs. Elmer Wachtel and Marion Wachtel continued painting and exhibiting together until his sudden death on August 31, 1929 in Guadalajara, Mexico while on a sketching trip. Elmer Wachtel's early works were tonalist landscapes done in moody, dark tones; whereas, his palette later lightened as he accepted the Impressionist esthetic. He is now considered one of southern California's most important painters.
Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California 1786-1940"
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