In the last years of the 19th century, Arthur Fleischmann was born into a Jewish family living under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which Emperor Franz-Josef had already ruled for 48 years. In the new century, Fleischmann studied medicine, then switched to sculpture. He fled the rising Nazi tide in Europe, settling in Sydney from 1939, where he was absorbed into the vibrant local artistic society. Relocating to London in 1948, he maintained his Australian links, producing works on commission. Fleischmann enthusiastically pioneered the use of Perspex, a plastic invented in the 1930s, to create innovative kinetic sculptures, as well as static works using traditional techniques. Dr Jim Bertouch goes hunting for one of Fleischmann’s kineticPerspex works, installed in Sydney in 1990 just months after he had died, but which had disappeared from public sight.