Marion Kavanaugh Wachtel (June 10, 1873/77 – May 22, 1954) was an American

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting is c ...

painter in

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

s and

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...

. She lived and worked with her artist husband Elmer Wachtel in the Arroyo Seco near

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, in the early 20th century.

Early life

Marion Kavanagh was born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

to James Kavanagh and Jean Jo Auston Kavanagh. Her English mother and Irish grandfather were also painters.

Career

She trained at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, and under

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later became the Parsons School of Design. ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. She was a member of the New York Watercolor Club. Later, she taught in public schools and at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1903 she journeyed to California, where she studied under William Keith, and Elmer Wachtel, whom she married in 1904. She painted primarily figures and portraits in the east and then changed to

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s of the dramatic Californian and Southwestern terrain. Her medium of choice was watercolor, but she began painting in oils after her husband’s death. Wachtel was an involved in a number of arts organizations in the Southern California area, including the California Watercolor Society,

Pasadena Society of Artists The Pasadena Society of Artists is a nonprofit arts organization in southern California, United States. It holds annual art exhibitions of its members' art works. Overview Pasadena Society of Artists, from its founding, attracted practitioners of a ...

, the Academy of Western Painters, and the California Art Club.She was also a member of the New York Watercolor Club, in New York City.

Posthumous exhibitions

In 2010 an exhibition of Wachtel's work and that of two other turn-of-the-century artists, Annie Harmon and Mary DeNeale Morgan was held at the Saint Mary's College Museum of Art. There were nearly 100 landscape paintings of California in the show made by the

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...

artists.

Collections

Among the collections that hold her works are: * California State Building, Sacramento, California * Cedar Rapids Museum, Iowa * Friday Morning Club, Los Angeles, California * Women's Club, Hollywood, California

Works

Some of the works by Wachtel are:Search: Marion Wachtel.
Collections Search Center. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved August 18, 2014. * ''California Mountains,'' oil * ''Coast Mountains of California'', before 1907, oil * ''Cypress Point,'' ca. 1900-1910, oil * ''Elmer Wachtel,'' ca. 1912, watercolor * ''High Sierras,'' oil, Laguna Art Museum, California * ''Hillside Path in Early Piedmont,'' ca. 1900, watercolor * ''Indian Girl,'' oil * ''Landscape,'' ca. 1918, watercolor, Laguna Art Museum, California * ''Near Santa Barbara,'' before 1907, oil * ''Oaks,'' ca. 1900-1910, watercolor * ''Sycamores,'' watercolor, Laguna Art Museum, California * ''Teton Park,'' oil

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachtel, Marion American Impressionist painters 1870s births 1954 deaths Painters from California 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 19th-century American women painters