Peter Kuhfeld (b. 1952)
Peter Kuhfeld is a leading light of the latest generation of British figurative artists. He was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the only child of a German POW and an English pianist. He studied at Leicester School of Art (1972-76) and taught at Rugby College of Art (1976-78). He then went on to study post graduate painting at the Royal Academy schools (1977-80) under the well regarded figurative portrait and landscape painter, Peter Greenham (1909-92). Kuhfeld’s natural ability was recognisable at an early stage in his career and he won numerous scholarships and prizes during this time (Freeman of the Worshipful Co.,of Painters Stainers (1978), David Murray landscape prize, and, Eric Kennington Prize for drawing (both 1978-79), Royal College of Surgeons ‘Dooley’ Prize for Anatomical Drawing (1978), Royal Academy of Art Silver Medal for drawing (1979), Elizabeth Greenshield Scholarship, and, Richard Ford Scholarship to Spain (both 1980-81)). Following graduation from the Royal Academy he spent a year there teaching drawing and painting.
His career progressed rapidly. He held his first solo exhibition at the Highgate Gallery, London in 1983, and had his first major exhibition alongside Christa Gaa (1937-1992) at the New Grafton Gallery, London, in 1985. This exhibition established Kuhfeld as one of the most exciting figures of the New English Art movement. He was subsequently elected to membership of the New English Art Club in 1986.
Kuhfeld is married to fellow figurative artist Cathryn Kuhfeld (née Showan, b. 1957) with whom he has two daughters who often appeared in their paintings as children. Kuhfeld has a fairly traditional practice, working up images in the studio based on preliminary drawing studies. His ability as a draughtsman has been recognised since the early days of his education, and this has acted as a solid foundation from which he has been able to develop a painterly style which masterfully combines joyful colour and gestural technique with compelling, balanced compositions which appear to capture movement in a single moment.
Peter Kuhfeld, Florence makes her Christmas cards (1995), Oil on board (52 x 38cm), framed (65 x 52cm). Signed, and signed and inscribed on verso.
He has enjoyed a very successful career, primarily as a painter of figures and portraits. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1992 and has enjoyed royal patronage as one of King Charles’ favourite artists since the 1980s. He has been commissioned to paint most of the major royal events of the past decades including: portraits of Princes William and Harry in 1986, accompanying Charles’ tours of Nigeria, Cameroon, Tunisia and Japan in 1990, the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant in 2012, the baptism of Prince George at St. James’s Palace Chapel in 2013. He was selected to paint Charles III’s state portrait on the occasion of his coronation in 2023. As well as these prestigious commissions, Kuhfeld has been a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy since 1978 and has had works in many of London’s best galleries. He has continued to win numerous prizes throughout his career (The Prince of Wales’s Prize for Portrait Drawing (2002), Royal Society of Portrait Painters “Ondaatje” Prize for portraiture and the Society’s Gold Medal (2019)) and was granted Freedom of the City of London in 2004. He has exhibited regularly with the New English Art Club since 1986, and his paintings are held in many major private, corporate and public collections including by the National Trust and the Royal collections at Buckingham Palace.
