Walter Jr. Stuempfig (1914 – 1970)
Walter Stuempfig was a prolific painter born in 1914 to a wealthy family in Germantown, Philadelphia. Known for his landscapes of the Philadelphia area and the shores of New Jersey, he is considered a ‘romantic realist’.
Free from the financial limitations of many struggling artists, Stuempfig was able to pursue his painting passion. He graduated from the Germantown Academy in 1930. In 1931, he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where his formal art training began, and where he later was to become part of the faculty from 1948 to 1970. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.
His successful artistic recognition began when he was included in the ‘Artists for Victory’ exhibition, sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He traveled frequently to Europe, and especially loved Italy. After his wife’s death in 1946, Stuempfig devoted himself completely to painting. He enjoyed meadows and woodlands and painted portraits of friends and family. He worked independently, and his works demonstrate a concern for human existence. He had the ability to combine the old with the new on canvas, not unlike the paintings of Thomas Eakins, of the previous century.
Stuempfig died in 1970 with more than 1,500 works to his credit, and is represented in most of the major museums.
