Peter Richard Barton was a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Oxford. He was born in London on 12 December 1921, the son of Richard Barton, a wine merchant, and Dora Ruth Barton née Jarman. He was educated at Haileybury College, where he was particularly influenced and encouraged by Wilfred Blunt, the art teacher. During the Second World War, Barton served in the Royal Signals in the UK, Nigeria and Burma, and was mentioned in despatches. After the war he studied dentistry and medicine at the London Hospital Medical School and, in his free time, attended the Sir John Cass School of Art. He trained in oral and maxillofacial surgery with John Hovell at St Thomas’ Hospital and, in 1960, gained his fellowship of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. In 1965 he was appointed as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon to the Oxford hospitals. With John Rayne he developed a unit which gained a national reputation. At an early stage he spent time with Hugo Lorenz Obwegeser, the pioneer of orthognathic surgery, in Zürich, and was subsequently at the forefront of the development of orthgnathic surgery in the UK. He recognised the benefits of an integrated approach with other specialties and critical analysis of his own clinical outcomes. In 1971 he was elected to the council of the British Association of Oral Surgeons. He was the honorary editor from 1973 to 1976 and president in 1976. In 1984 he was awarded the Down Surgical prize. In 1972 he was elected to the board of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and in 1979 became vice dean. He was invited to give the Charles Tomes lecture in 1983. He continued to develop his artistic and musical talents whilst working as a surgeon. In the 1970s he rebuilt a house in Headington to include a painting studio and space for his Steinway piano with seating to host concerts. In 1983, at the age of 62, he took early retirement to paint full-time and bought a cottage in Shieldaig in the northwest Highlands. He held numerous exhibitions in Scotland and England and also wrote *Torridon: a walker’s guide* (Milnthorpe, Cicerone Press), published in 1989. Following the onset of Parkinson’s disease, he moved back to Oxford in 2001, where he continued to paint, write and enjoy music. In 1947 he married Rosemary Bayly. They had three children. Barton died on 4 April 2010. He was 88.