Skip to main content

Elmer Wachtel Art

American, 1864-1929

Elmer Wachtel was an American artist who held a high place in the early California school of Impressionism. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 21, 1864. He received his artistic training at the Art Students' League of New York under William Merritt Chase and the Art School in London, 1901–02. While in California, he resided and maintained studios in Los Angeles and Pasadena. In 1904, Wachtel married the artist Marion Kavanaugh (1876–1954) in Chicago. Husband and wife were frequently seen painting the Southern California landscape, they were known to have traveled by horseback over the San Marcos Pass to the Santa Ynez Valley. They traversed and painted the coastline between Gaviota and Conception Lighthouse which is just north of Santa Barbara, California, the Cooper Ranch at the north of Santa Barbara, Matilija Canyon and Ojai, California. Venturing south, the couple made it to the San Luis Rey River (near present-day Oceanside) and the Cerisa Loma Ranch (near San Diego). In 1908, they trekked to the arid deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, painting the historic pueblo villages on the Moki and Navajo reservations. During their marriage, Marion specialized as a general rule in watercolors while Elmer stayed with oils. In 1906, a Los Angeles Times critic noted, "Elmer knows Southern California perhaps more intimately than any other artist. He paints her directly, simply, truthfully, and yet never with topographic hardness and realism..."

to
1
1
1
1
1
'Moss Beach, Monterey, California', Pacific Coastal Landscape, ASL NYC, Benezit
'Moss Beach, Monterey, California', Pacific Coastal Landscape, ASL NYC, Benezit

'Moss Beach, Monterey, California', Pacific Coastal Landscape, ASL NYC, Benezit

By Elmer Wachtel

Located in Santa Cruz, CA

An early-20th-century, landscape showing a view of the coastline at Moss Beach in Monterey County with slate-blue skies overhead and a view towards a stand of windswept Monterey Cypress with a view of the cobalt blue ocean beyond. A particularly fresh and bright example, kept until recently in a portfolio. Monogrammed lower right, "EW", dated "X-mas 1909", signed verso, "Elmer Wachtel", and inscribed lower left, "Moss Beach, Monterey County, California". A prominent California landscape painter of the late 19th and early 20th-century, Elmer Wachtel specialized in panoramic coastal scenes and desert and mountain landscapes using impressionist brushstrokes. His early works were tonalist in mood, and his later paintings were more decorative and light hearted. Elmer Wachtel was an American artist who holds a high place in the early California school of Impressionism. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 21, 1864 -- he received his artistic training at the Art Students' League of New York under William Merritt Chase, and the Art School in London 1901-02. While in California he resided and maintained studios in Los Angeles and Pasadena. In 1904 Elmer Wachtel married the artist Marion Kavanaugh (1876-1954) in Chicago. Husband and wife were frequently seen painting the Southern California landscape -- they were known to have traveled by horseback over the San Marcos Pass to the Santa Inez Valley -- they traversed and painted the coastline between Gaviota and Conception Lighthouse (just north of Santa Barbara, California), the Cooper Ranch (north of Santa Barbara), Matilija Canyon and Ojai, California. Venturing south the couple made it to the San Luis Rey River (near present day Oceanside) and the Cerisa Loma Ranch (near San Diego). In 1908 they trekked to the arid deserts of Arizona and New Mexico painting...

Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache

Related Items
Mid Century California Mission Landscape
Mid Century California Mission Landscape

Mid Century California Mission Landscape

$750

H 18.5 in W 25 in D 1 in

Mid Century California Mission Landscape

Located in Soquel, CA

Beautiful mid century landscape of a historic California mission, highlighting its iconic architectural details such as a columned arches, white was...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Cardboard

Sky & Surf - Abstracted Watercolor Landscape with Birds
Sky & Surf - Abstracted Watercolor Landscape with Birds

Sky & Surf - Abstracted Watercolor Landscape with Birds

By Les Anderson

Located in Soquel, CA

Expressive watercolor landscape of an abstracted crashing surf swirling into a dreamy sky, punctuated by silhouetted birds in flight by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-...

Category

1980s American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Cowboy in the Canyon, Small Contemporary Multicolor Abstract Figural Landscape
Cowboy in the Canyon, Small Contemporary Multicolor Abstract Figural Landscape

Cowboy in the Canyon, Small Contemporary Multicolor Abstract Figural Landscape

By Tiffanie Mang

Located in Soquel, CA

Small-scale yet bold multi-colored abstracted figurative landscape of a horse rider in a canyon (a study after Edgar Payne’s works) by Tiffanie Mang (Ameri...

Category

2010s American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Gouache, Cardboard

An Old Military Road, The Road over Dovrefjell, Norway
An Old Military Road, The Road over Dovrefjell, Norway

An Old Military Road, The Road over Dovrefjell, Norway

By Carl Oscar Borg

Located in Stockholm, SE

Carl Oscar Borg (1879–1947) An Old Military Road, The Road over Dovrefjell, Norway gouache on paper, ca. 1900 signed sheet 12.5 cm x 17.5 (4.9 x 6.9 in) framed 23 × 28 cm (9 × 11...

Category

1890s American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache

“Venice, 1889” San Pietro di Castello Canals American Impressionist Watercolor
“Venice, 1889” San Pietro di Castello Canals American Impressionist Watercolor

“Venice, 1889” San Pietro di Castello Canals American Impressionist Watercolor

Located in Yardley, PA

“Venice, 1889” by Louis Ritter (American, 1854-1892). A fantastic example of Ritter’s renowned European watercolors. This beautifully poised composition captures the sun-washed faça...

Category

1880s American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Monhegan Island, Maine, " Edward Dufner, American Impressionism Landscape View
"Monhegan Island, Maine, " Edward Dufner, American Impressionism Landscape View

"Monhegan Island, Maine, " Edward Dufner, American Impressionism Landscape View

By Edward Dufner

Located in New York, NY

Edward Dufner (1872 - 1957) Monhegan Island, Maine Watercolor on paper Sight 16 x 20 inches Signed lower right With a long-time career as an art teacher and painter of both 'light' and 'dark', Edward Dufner was one of the first students of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy to earn an Albright Scholarship to study painting in New York. In Buffalo, he had exchanged odd job work for drawing lessons from architect Charles Sumner. He also earned money as an illustrator of a German-language newspaper, and in 1890 took lessons from George Bridgman at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. In 1893, using his scholarship, Dufner moved to Manhattan and enrolled at the Art Students League where he studied with Henry Siddons Mowbray, figure painter and muralist. He also did illustration work for Life, Harper's and Scribner's magazines. Five years later, in 1898, Dufner went to Paris where he studied at the Academy Julian with Jean-Paul Laurens and privately with James McNeill Whistler. Verification of this relationship, which has been debated by art scholars, comes from researcher Nancy Turk who located at the Smithsonian Institution two 1927 interviews given by Dufner. Turk wrote that Dufner "talks in detail about Whistler, about how he prepared his canvasas and about numerous pieces he painted. . . A great read, the interview puts to bed" the ongoing confusion about whether or not he studied with Whistler. During his time in France, Dufner summered in the south at Le Pouleu with artists Richard Emil Miller...

Category

Early 20th Century American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

The White Boat, Edgartown
The White Boat, Edgartown

The White Boat, Edgartown

By Jane Peterson

Located in Bryn Mawr, PA

The White Boat, Edgartown, c. 1916 Watercolor and gouache on board 18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61 cm) Framed dims: 24 x 29 1/2 inches Signed at lower right: JANE PETERSON Inscribed on ver...

Category

1910s American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Board

Gathered by the Easter Fire, Dalsland
Gathered by the Easter Fire, Dalsland

Gathered by the Easter Fire, Dalsland

By Carl Oscar Borg

Located in Stockholm, SE

A rare and atmospheric work from Carl Oscar Borg’s early years in Sweden, this evocative gouache captures the tradition of Easter fires (påskeldar) in the rural region of Dalsland. A...

Category

Late 19th Century American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Paul Strisik Watercolor & Gouache “Morgans Meadow” Coastal New England Landscape
Paul Strisik Watercolor & Gouache “Morgans Meadow” Coastal New England Landscape

Paul Strisik Watercolor & Gouache “Morgans Meadow” Coastal New England Landscape

By Paul Strisik

Located in Rockport, MA

"Morgans Meadow" is a beautiful mix of watercolor and gouache by celebrated American painter Paul Strisik (1918–1998), renowned for his evocative depictions of the New England coast....

Category

Mid-20th Century American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

"Canal at Indian Mound Road" RARE Ben Fenske Gouache work on paper black & white
"Canal at Indian Mound Road" RARE Ben Fenske Gouache work on paper black & white

"Canal at Indian Mound Road" RARE Ben Fenske Gouache work on paper black & white

By Ben Fenske

Located in Sag Harbor, NY

Painted during the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. A black and white depiction of a canal, is barely recognizable, due to Fenske's wild brushstrokes and lack...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache

ACAPULCO
ACAPULCO

Joseph PennellACAPULCO, c. 1901-08

$900Sale Price|45% Off

H 10 in W 14 in

ACAPULCO

By Joseph Pennell

Located in Santa Monica, CA

JOSEPH PENNELL (1857 - 1926) ACAPULCO 1901-08. Colored pastel and gouache drawing on blue paper. Signed and titled in pencil in his early signature. Image 10 x 14 inches to just ab...

Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Pastel, Gouache

“Rowing on the Charles River, Harvard University” Boston, Cambride, MA Cityscape
“Rowing on the Charles River, Harvard University” Boston, Cambride, MA Cityscape

“Rowing on the Charles River, Harvard University” Boston, Cambride, MA Cityscape

By Aiden Lassell Ripley

Located in Yardley, PA

“Rowing on the Charles River, Harvard University” by Aiden Lassell Ripley (American, 1896-1969) A fantastic, rare view of Harvard University and the Charles River by renowned Americ...

Category

20th Century American Impressionist Elmer Wachtel Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Elmer Wachtel art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Elmer Wachtel art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Elmer Wachtel in gouache, paint, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the early 1900s and is mostly associated with the Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Elmer Wachtel art, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Louis Oscar Griffith, Robert Hallowell, and James March Phillips. Elmer Wachtel art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $4,500 and tops out at $4,500, while the average work can sell for $4,500.

Artists Similar to Elmer Wachtel