Peter Kuhfeld (born 1952) is an English figurative painter. He was born in
Cheltenham and is married to the English figurative painter Cathryn Kuhfeld, née Showan. They have two daughters who have often appeared in their paintings.
Biography
Kuhfeld is the only child of a German
prisoner of war and an English
classical pianist. Between 1972 and 1976 he studied at Leicester School of Art.[1] He worked from 1976 to 1978 at Rugby School of Art, where he gave lessons in drawing and painting, before securing a place at the
Royal Academy School of Art.[2] During 1977-80 Kuhfeld studied under the painter
Peter Greenham[1] CBE, RA. In 1978 he was created a Freeman of the
Worshipful Company of Painters.[3]
In 1985 the
New Grafton Gallery in London gave Kuhfeld his first major exhibition, with the painter
Christa Ga, which helped establish him as one of the up-and-coming members of the
New English Art movement. In 1986 Kuhfeld was elected to membership of the
New English Art Club. In 1992 he became an elected member of the
Royal Society of Portrait Painters, which he resigned in 2005. In 2009, he unveiled a portrait of
Harry Patch, the oldest man in Europe and last surviving World War I soldier, which Kuhfeld called "a privilege"[4] and "was struck by this extraordinary man".[5]