Walter Stuempfig
Encyclopedia
Walter Stuempfig was an American artist and teacher.
He was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania
to a moderately wealthy family. After graduation from the Germantown Academy, he enrolled as an architecture student in the University of Pennsylvania
. In October 1931 he transferred to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
, where his instructors included Henry McCarter, Daniel Garber
, and Francis Speight. From 1932–1966 he exhibited regularly at the Pennsylvania Academy's Annual Exhibitions.
In 1935 he married Lila Hill, a sculptor who had also studied at the Academy.
Stuempfig was a prolific painter whose works number over 1500. His paintings sold steadily; purchasers from his first solo show in New York in 1943 included the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art
. He painted figure compositions, landscapes
and architectural subjects, still life
s, and portraits; all in a style of romantic
realism that fell outside the artistic mainstream of his time. R. Sturgis Ingersoll has written of him:
From 1948–1970 he taught composition and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art. He died in Ocean City, New Jersey
on November 29, 1970.
He was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania
Germantown, Pennsylvania
Germantown is the name of six places in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a state in the United States, including a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:* Germantown, Adams County, Pennsylvania* Germantown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania...
to a moderately wealthy family. After graduation from the Germantown Academy, he enrolled as an architecture student in the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. In October 1931 he transferred to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
, where his instructors included Henry McCarter, Daniel Garber
Daniel Garber
Daniel Garber was an American Impressionist landscape painter and member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his large impressionist scenes of the New Hope area, in which he often depicted the Delaware River. He also painted figurative interior works and...
, and Francis Speight. From 1932–1966 he exhibited regularly at the Pennsylvania Academy's Annual Exhibitions.
In 1935 he married Lila Hill, a sculptor who had also studied at the Academy.
Stuempfig was a prolific painter whose works number over 1500. His paintings sold steadily; purchasers from his first solo show in New York in 1943 included the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. He painted figure compositions, landscapes
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
and architectural subjects, still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
s, and portraits; all in a style of romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
realism that fell outside the artistic mainstream of his time. R. Sturgis Ingersoll has written of him:
A layman's chat with him would constitute a lesson in late 16th century and early 17th century Italian art. His heroes were CaravaggioCaravaggioMichelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
, DegasEdgar DegasEdgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
and EakinsThomas EakinsThomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
. One would risk acrimonious rebuttal if making a disparaging remark with respect to any one of them and earn a more violent rebuttal to a remark in praise of American ExpressionismAbstract expressionismAbstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
.
From 1948–1970 he taught composition and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art. He died in Ocean City, New Jersey
Ocean City, New Jersey
Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is the principal city of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Cape May County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 11,701...
on November 29, 1970.