Elmer Wachtel

Elmer Wachtel 

Elmer Wachtel 

Elmer Wachtel 

Elmer Wachtel 

Elmer Wachtel 

Elmer Wachtel 

Elmer Wachtel 

Elmer Wachtel was born in 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 Kavanaugh, an outstanding artist in her own right, would eventually become his wife. 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 which helped avoid competition.