Staempfli Gallery was established by George Staempfli in 1959 in New York City and specialized in modern art by European and American artists. George William Staempfli (1910-1999) was born in Bern, Switzerland, and moved to the United States in 1935. He worked at M. Knoedler & Company and was curator of paintings the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston from 1954 to 1956. He founded Staempfli Gallery in 1959 and exhibited the work of a variety of artists. Phillip A. Bruno served as co-director for over twenty years, until the gallery officially closed in 1988. George Staempfli retired to Annapolis, Maryland, in 1992, and lived there until his death in 1999.