Though her oeuvre consists mainly of impressionistic flower still lifes, this painter also produced figural representations and other kinds of still lifes. Maria van Nieuwenhoven-Stempels trained at the Academie in Rotterdam and was also a student of Willem van Nieuwenhoven, whom she married in 1907. In 1910 the couple settled in Laren (Noord-Holland), where they would remain for the rest of their lives.