Elmer Wachtel (1864-1929) was an American painter who lived and worked in Southern California. He was known for his impressionist landscapes.

Biography

Wachtel was born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 21, 1864. He moved to California in 1882 to live with his brother, who was working in San Gabriel. Wachtel worked as a ranch hand and as a furniture store clerk while saving money to attend art school. He also worked as a violinist, playing for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Los Angeles. Wachtel was largely self-taught as a painter. He studied at the Art Students' League in New York for two months and then later at the Lambeth School of Art in London. Wachtel married sculptor Marion Kavanagh in 1904; the two lived in the Arroyo Seco region of Los Angeles. Wachtel was known for painting California's landscapes, rather than European landscapes. On August 31, 1929, Wachtel died suddenly while on a painting trip in Guadalajara,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. During World War I, Wachtel became an informant for the U.S. Department of Justice by reporting to federal law authorities alleged pro-German and antiwar statements by militant socialists and fellow artists. ''FBI files
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References

''Hollywood Bohemia: The Roots of Progressive Politics in Rob Wagner's Script'' by Rob Leicester Wagner (Janaway Publishing, 2016) () 1864 births 1929 deaths American Impressionist painters Painters from California 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-stub

Biography

See also

References