Arthur Midy was born in the northern France city of Saint-Quentin in 1877. His father, Alfred Hippolyte Midy, was a joiner. His mother’s name was Adélaïde Marie Douay, and he had two brothers and three sisters. At a young age he joined the École Quentin de La Tour. In 1889, he was awarded a silver medal by Saint-Quentin in recognition of exceptional progress as a young student and, in 1890, he was awarded a bursary of 240 francs enabling him to attend the Henri Martin School. Further success saw him awarded a bursary of 800 francs by Saint-Quentin
In 1893, he enrolled at the Paris École des beaux-arts and then in 1900 at the Académie Julian. In 1906 he married Marie-Berthe Benoit in Paris. In 1905 he discovered Brittany and he made frequent visits to Faouët from 1907 to 1909 before deciding to take up residence there. He invited Gabriel Girodon, another Saint Quentin artist to join him. In 1907, he exhibited three paintings at an exhibition held at the “Palais de Fervaques” and he exhibited there again in 1911. In 1909, the French Government purchased his painting. “Le vieux buveur” from the Salon and, from 1912 onwards, he exhibited regularly there. That same year he had work hung at the Saint Quentin “Desprey-Pollet” gallery.
In 1921, he was employed in restoring and organizing the repatriation of works of art taken by the Germans. On 25 November 1938, after his divorce, he married a German woman named Emilie Maïer. This and his fraternization with the German occupying forces made him a target for the French Resistance, who assassinated him on 8 March 1944.
