In 1935 he married Lila Hill, a sculptor who had also studied at the academy.[2]
Stuempfig was a prolific painter whose works number over 1500.[2] 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.[3] He painted figure compositions, landscapes and architectural subjects, still lifes, and portraits; all in a style of romantic realism that fell outside the artistic mainstream of his time. Robert 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 Caravaggio, Degas and Eakins. 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 Expressionism.[2]
^ ab"Walter Stuempfig Dead at 56; A Painter and Professor of Art". New York Times. December 2, 1970. Retrieved 2015-02-13. Walter Stuempfig, whose landscapes won him election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1963, died yesterday at the home of his aunt, Mrs. Maude E. Raby, 1 Lagoon Road, after a long illness. He was 56 years old. ...
^ abcdePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1972.