Gruppe was born in Rochester NY, the son of painter Charles Paul Gruppe. He is best know for his paintings of Gloucsester fishing boats and Rockport village scenes. Gruppe is a highly regarded early 20th Century American impressionist painter. He studied in Paris and with John F. Carlson, Richard Miller, George Bridgman & Charles Hawthorne. He won prizes and exhibited his work all across the country from 1913 through the ‘50s. His work is held in numerous college museum collections including Webber, Smith and Silverman College in Montreal, Canada. As well as the Los Angeles Museum of Fine Art, San Antonio Museum, the Montclair Museum, and The White House.