Hal Missingham

Hal Missingham was a student at the Central School in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Missingham was born in Claremont, Western Australia, the son of a mining engineer. He left school early and was apprenticed to a firm of process engravers. He attended evening classes at Perth Technical College. Missingham left for Europe in 1926, working his passage as a nurse-minder of a DBS (distressed British sailor). With his friend Jamie Linton, he attended classes at various art schools in Paris. Later in London he studied under Bernard Meninsky and A.S. Hartrick. He was awarded the LCC senior scholarship in 1934 and three years later started teaching at Central School. In 1940, he returned to Australia. In 1945 he became the director of the Art Gallery of NSW, where he stayed until 1971.