Marion Kavanagh Wachtel (1876-1954), "Azure Lake, Sierra Nevada"
Marion Kavanagh Wachtel
(1876-1954)
"Azure Lake, Sierra Nevada"
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left: Marion Kavanagh Wachtel; titled in pencil on the stretcher
24 x 32 in.
Provenance:
Private collection, Altadena, CA, likely acquired directly from the artist, circa 1929
By family descent
Other Notes:
A celebrated American Western landscape painter in watercolor and oil, Marion Kavanagh Wachtel was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in a family of artists that included her mother and a great grandfather who was a member of the Royal Academy in London. Wachtel studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in New York under William Merritt Chase. After finishing her artistic studies, Wachtel taught at the Art Institute and in Chicago public schools, before returning to Milwaukee where she developed a reputation as a fine artist of figural subjects, particularly portraits of children.
In 1903, Wachtel received a commission from the Santa Fe Railroad to paint murals in the railroad’s ticket offices which took her West for the first time. She visited many sites along the way, stopping to sketch in New Mexico and Arizona before reaching San Francisco.
In San Francisco, Wachtel studied with William Keith, and also had an extended visit to Cooper Ranch in Santa Barbara where she stayed for some months as a guest of the owner, Ellwood Cooper. It was on this ranch that Wachtel first saw and began to paint the handsome eucalyptus trees dotting the property, which would become one of her most frequent subjects for the remainder of her career.
After considering a move to Southern California that same 1903 year, Keith suggested she continue her art studies with his former student, artist Elmer Wachtel. A romance quickly developed, and the couple were married in Chicago the following year. After they married, Wachtel signed her paintings ‘Marion Kavanagh Wachtel’ and also dropped the ‘u’ in the original spelling of ‘Kavanaugh.’
The artist couple returned to Los Angles and built a home and studio in the Mt. Washington Area. They lived there until 1921 when they moved to the Arroyo Seco section of Pasadena. Elmer painted mostly in oil while Marion focused on watercolor, and both artist’s work focused on the California landscape.
Actively involved in the local artist community, Wachtel was honored in the 1920s with two one-artist exhibitions at the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art. She exhibited coast to coast and was elected a member of the New York Water Color Club in 1911, became an associate of the American Water Color Society in 1912, and was a founding member of the California Water Color Society in 1921. She held memberships in other California and Western artists’ societies as well.
Elmer's death in 1929 caused Marion to stop painting for a time, but she resumed in 1931 and was again exhibiting regularly by the mid-1930s. After her husband’s death, Wachtel incorporated oil painting into her practice and continued to produce landscape subjects primarily in and around the foothills of the nearby San Gabriel Mountains. She died in Pasadena in 1954, celebrated and admired for her talent as an artist who depicted the unique American West landscape in lyrical, sweeping rhythms and layers of rich tonal colors.
Condition
Visual: Frame abrasion along the edges, particularly the right side. There are a few spots of paint loss along the extreme upper right corner one, along the upper edge, is about 1/4 x 2 inches and the other, along the right side, is about 3 x 1/4 inches.Blacklight: A 5 x 1 1/2 inch area of touch-up in the lower left quadrant, within the water. A 1 x 3/4 inch spot of touch-up with a few accompanying pea-sized (and smaller) spots of touch-up in the upper right corner. Other areas that fluoresce are the ground layer showing through.Frame: 33 x 40 1/2 x 3 in.Condition reports are offered as a courtesy and are typically published in Moran's catalogue or can be made available upon request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of others. Buyers are responsible for determining to their own satisfaction the true nature and condition of any lot prior to bidding. Though buyers are not legally required to inspect lots prior to purchase, failure to do so may constitute a waiver of complaint that an item was not delivered in a condition equal to the existent condition at the auction.
Marion Kavanagh Wachtel
(1876-1954)
"Azure Lake, Sierra Nevada"
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left: Marion Kavanagh Wachtel; titled in pencil on the stretcher
24 x 32 in.
Provenance:
Private collection, Altadena, CA, likely acquired directly from the artist, circa 1929
By family descent
Other Notes:
A celebrated American Western landscape painter in watercolor and oil, Marion Kavanagh Wachtel was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in a family of artists that included her mother and a great grandfather who was a member of the Royal Academy in London. Wachtel studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in New York under William Merritt Chase. After finishing her artistic studies, Wachtel taught at the Art Institute and in Chicago public schools, before returning to Milwaukee where she developed a reputation as a fine artist of figural subjects, particularly portraits of children.
In 1903, Wachtel received a commission from the Santa Fe Railroad to paint murals in the railroad’s ticket offices which took her West for the first time. She visited many sites along the way, stopping to sketch in New Mexico and Arizona before reaching San Francisco.
In San Francisco, Wachtel studied with William Keith, and also had an extended visit to Cooper Ranch in Santa Barbara where she stayed for some months as a guest of the owner, Ellwood Cooper. It was on this ranch that Wachtel first saw and began to paint the handsome eucalyptus trees dotting the property, which would become one of her most frequent subjects for the remainder of her career.
After considering a move to Southern California that same 1903 year, Keith suggested she continue her art studies with his former student, artist Elmer Wachtel. A romance quickly developed, and the couple were married in Chicago the following year. After they married, Wachtel signed her paintings ‘Marion Kavanagh Wachtel’ and also dropped the ‘u’ in the original spelling of ‘Kavanaugh.’
The artist couple returned to Los Angles and built a home and studio in the Mt. Washington Area. They lived there until 1921 when they moved to the Arroyo Seco section of Pasadena. Elmer painted mostly in oil while Marion focused on watercolor, and both artist’s work focused on the California landscape.
Actively involved in the local artist community, Wachtel was honored in the 1920s with two one-artist exhibitions at the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art. She exhibited coast to coast and was elected a member of the New York Water Color Club in 1911, became an associate of the American Water Color Society in 1912, and was a founding member of the California Water Color Society in 1921. She held memberships in other California and Western artists’ societies as well.
Elmer's death in 1929 caused Marion to stop painting for a time, but she resumed in 1931 and was again exhibiting regularly by the mid-1930s. After her husband’s death, Wachtel incorporated oil painting into her practice and continued to produce landscape subjects primarily in and around the foothills of the nearby San Gabriel Mountains. She died in Pasadena in 1954, celebrated and admired for her talent as an artist who depicted the unique American West landscape in lyrical, sweeping rhythms and layers of rich tonal colors.
Condition
Visual: Frame abrasion along the edges, particularly the right side. There are a few spots of paint loss along the extreme upper right corner one, along the upper edge, is about 1/4 x 2 inches and the other, along the right side, is about 3 x 1/4 inches.Blacklight: A 5 x 1 1/2 inch area of touch-up in the lower left quadrant, within the water. A 1 x 3/4 inch spot of touch-up with a few accompanying pea-sized (and smaller) spots of touch-up in the upper right corner. Other areas that fluoresce are the ground layer showing through.Frame: 33 x 40 1/2 x 3 in.Condition reports are offered as a courtesy and are typically published in Moran's catalogue or can be made available upon request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of others. Buyers are responsible for determining to their own satisfaction the true nature and condition of any lot prior to bidding. Though buyers are not legally required to inspect lots prior to purchase, failure to do so may constitute a waiver of complaint that an item was not delivered in a condition equal to the existent condition at the auction.
