Peter Midgley (né Peter Fleischmann, 1921 Berlin, Germany – 1991 London, England)
Painter, printmaker and teacher, Peter Midgley (né Fleischmann), was born into a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany, in 1921; orphaned by the age of two, he was raised by his maternal grandfather, following whose death in 1931, Peter was sent to the Auerbach Orphanage for Jewish Children. He studied briefly at the Royal School of Art in Berlin before fleeing Nazi persecution, arriving in England on a Kindertransport in 1938. He later adopted the surname of the Midgley family in Manchester, who befriended him. Following the introduction of internment, Midgley transited through Warth Mills and Prees Heath camps, and was interned in Hutchinson camp on the Isle of Man, where he received a comprehensive arts education from fellow German internees, particularly Kurt Schwitters and Fred Uhlman. Postwar Midgley trained at Beckenham School of Art (1947–51), then the Royal College of Art, gaining the prestigious Rome scholarship (1953–4). He exhibited extensively in London, particularly with the Redfern Gallery and Royal Academy and taught at Beckenham School of Art (1955-65) and Ravensbourne College of Art and Design (1966-86). A versatile artist, his work spanned various media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking and murals for several prominent architectural projects including a floor design for Liverpool Cathedral.
