Edward Middleditch (1923-1987)

After military service in the Second World War (awarded the Military Cross at the age of 22), Middleditch studied first at the Regent Street Polytechnic (1948), and then at the Royal College of Art under Ruskin Spear and John Minton (1949-1952). With John Bratby, Derrick Greaves, Peter Coker and Jack Smith he was part of the Kitchen Sink Group of the 1950s. He taught at St Martin’s School of Art and at Chelsea School of Art (1958-63). From 1964 to 1984 he was head of Fine Art at the Norwich School of Art. His first one-man exhibition was at the Beaux-Arts Gallery in 1954, and he was included in the British Pavilion at the 1956 Venice Biennale. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, and became an ARA in 1968 and an Academician in 1973. From 1984 to 1986 he was Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools.