Arthur Fleischmann was born into a Jewish family in 1896 in Pressburg in Austria-Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia) and initially studied to be a dermatologist; swiftly abandoning medicine, he decided to pursue his ever-present interest in sculpture, beginning with private classes in ceramics. Following the rise of Antisemitism, he travelled to South Africa in 1937 and subsequently to Australia in 1939, before settling in London in 1948. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy between 1947–65, made portraits of many distinguished sitters, and latterly experimented with new sculptural materials, including Perspex.
Sculptor Arthur Fleischmann was born in 1896 in Pressburg in Austria-Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia) into a Jewish family. His father was a successful textile merchant and the family was part of the local intelligentsia. Fleischmann trained as a medical doctor in Budapest and Prague, while concurrently studying sculpture at the Prague Academy under Jan Šturza. His studies were interrupted by the First World War, during which he served as a medical officer in the Hungarian cavalry. After graduating from Charles University in Prague in 1921, he practised as a dermatologist in Vienna, while continuing to pursue sculpture, training under Josef Müllner. Having given up his career in medicine, he taught ceramics at the Frauenakademie in Vienna (1934–37). The majority of his artistic output during the interwar years was in ceramics; he also undertook commercial work at the Gmundner Keramik factory. In 1930 Fleischmann created 12 ceramic sculptures of the Apostles for the main altar in the Church of St Elisabeth in Hagen, Westphalia, designed by the well-known expressionist architect Dominicus Böhm. In 1932 Fleischmann exhibited at the International Exhibition of Christian Art in Padua, winning a silver medal. Fleischmann maintained links with his home country, becoming a founding member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts in Bratislava in 1935.
In 1937 he moved to South Africa, exhibiting in Johannesburg and Pretoria. He subsequently travelled to Zanzibar, Mauritius, Seychelles and finally Bali, where he stayed for two years, sculpting in terracotta and taking numerous photographs of the island and its inhabitants (these were published by his son in 2007). While in Bali, Fleischmann converted to Catholicism. He intended to remain on the island, but following the Japanese invasion in 1939 was forced to flee to Australia, where he lived and worked for ten years. Based in Sydney, he became a member of the Society of Artists (1939) and a founder member of the Merioola Group (1941), known for their light-hearted, decorative approach to artistic creation. His portrait bust commissions included Cardinal Gilroy, Sir Frederick Jordan, Sir John Butters, Sir Percy Spender, the Jewish pianist Gualtiero Volterra and violinist Jeanne Gautier. He also executed several public sculpture projects, including the Wishing Tree Memorial for the Royal Botanic Gardens (1946) and the Bronze Doors for the Mitchell Wing, State Library of New South Wales, both in Sydney (1947).
In 1948 Fleischmann travelled to London; he originally planned to continue to Bratislava, but given the political events in Eastern Europe he remained, spending the rest of his life in Britain. He established a studio in Green Street in Mayfair and began to exhibit, including with the Architectural Association (AA, 1956) and in the Royal Society of British Sculptors Open Air Exhibition (1957). He was also soon executing a range of private and public commissions. These included portrait busts of Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II and of actor Trevor Howard, the latter in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. During the 1940s–1960s, he regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1955 he married Cecile Joy and in 1961 their son Dominique was born. His wife often acted as his assistant and made the preparatory clay sausages for his modelling. In 1958 he moved to a new studio home in 92 Carlton Hill, St John's Wood (now commemorated by a plaque installed by the City of Westminster). During the 1950s Fleischmann pioneered the use of Perspex as a sculptural medium. Fleischmann's first Perspex work, Runding and Rmpang Returning From the Rice Fields, inspired by his time in Bali, dates from 1949. In the 1960s his works became more abstract, built up in horizontal layers from raw sheets of perspex. He subsequently introduced water as an integral element of his sculptures. Fleischmann exhibited at the World Exhibitions in Brussels (1958), USA (1962), and Osaka, Japan (1970). In 1977 a piece carved from the largest block of acrylic in the world, entitled The Crystal Crown, was unveiled by the Queen for the Silver Jubilee at St Katharine Docks, London. Fleischmann's last work was a Perspex water sculpture entitled Tribute to the Discovery of DNA (1990), which was placed in the new wing of the New South Wales State Library in Sydney. Fleischmann was nominated Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (FRBS) and received the civilian honour Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory (KCSG). He died while on holiday in Tenerife, Spain, in 1990. In 1996 a retrospective exhibition Arthur Fleischmann 1896–1990: A Centennial Celebration was held at the Múzeum mesta Bratislavy in Bratislava and the Slovak Institute in Vienna. In 2002, the Arthur Fleischmann Museum opened in Bratislava in the house where the sculptor grew up. His works are held in numerous UK public collections including the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery and Leeds Art Gallery.