Julian Otto Trevelyan
Julian Otto Trevelyan, born on 20 February 1910 in Dorking, was the only child to survive to adulthood of Robert C Trevelyan, poet and scholar. His grandfather was the liberal politician Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and his uncle the historian George Macaulay Trevelyan.
Trevelyan was educated at Bedales School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read English Literature. It wasn’t until 1931, when he joined S.W. Hayter’s famous print workshop, Atelier 17, Paris, that Trevelyan had any formal art training. He worked alongside famous artists including Max Ernst, Oskar Kokoschka, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. During that time Trevelyan’s work was experimental and he began to develop his own unique style, incorporating everyday objects and portraying them with a dreamlike and childlike quality. He travelled widely in Europe, including the Balkans and Mount Athos.
In early 1934 Trevelyan returned to England and married the potter Ursula Darwin, daughter of Bernard Darwin and great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, on 30 July 1934. In 1935, Trevelyan bought Durham Wharf, beside the River Thames in Hammersmith, London. This became his home and studio for the rest of his life and was a source of artistic inspiration to him. It was here that he continued with the methods of etching learnt from Hayter, and developed a certain intimacy with the medium, constantly pushing it in new directions. By 1936 Trevelyan was a confirmed Surrealist and exhibited at the famous International Exhibition of Surrealism at the New Burlington Galleries in London. Perhaps concerned by the rise of political extremism, Trevelyan's motivations change and in 1938 he resigned from the English Surrealist Group and began to attend pacifist demonstrations. In response to the Spanish Civil War he produced work in support of the Republican government. During the Second World War he served as a member of the Royal Engineers from 1940 to 1943, in North Africa and Palestine. Arriving in the "Western Desert" town of Tobruk, North Africa, Trevelyan realised that standard British army green and brown splotches were ineffective as desert camouflage. He and the other camoufleurs became expert at desert camouflage and deception. By 1942, they were able to deceive the German Afrika Korps, creating a dummy army which successfully tied down German forces, while real tanks were concealed or disguised as trucks and other equipment. After the war, Trevelyan became a member of the London Group in 1948.
Trevelyan’s marriage was dissolved in 1950. Their son is the film-maker Philip Trevelyan. Trevelyan then married the fellow artist Mary Fedden in 1951. Together they painted a series of murals for the Festival of Britain. The couple travelled widely, making sketches ‘en route’ which were later worked up into paintings in their studio.
From 1950-55, Trevelyan taught history of art and etching at the Chelsea School of Art. During 1955–63, he was Tutor of Engraving at the Royal College of Art, rising to Head of the Etching Department. Trevelyan became a highly influential teacher, with students including David Hockney, Ron Kitaj and Norman Ackroyd. He was an important leader of modern print techniques and is regarded as a silent driving force behind the etching revolution of the 1960s.
In 1969, he produced the Thames Suite, a collection of 12 views of the Thames from its upper reaches in Oxford and Henley-on-Thames down to the tidal stretches of London and the Estuary.
Trevelyan was awarded a senior fellowship at the Royal College of Art in 1986 and in 1987 he was appointed a Royal Academician. He passed away on 12 July 1988 in Hammersmith, London.
Trevelyan was educated at Bedales School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read English Literature. It wasn’t until 1931, when he joined S.W. Hayter’s famous print workshop, Atelier 17, Paris, that Trevelyan had any formal art training. He worked alongside famous artists including Max Ernst, Oskar Kokoschka, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. During that time Trevelyan’s work was experimental and he began to develop his own unique style, incorporating everyday objects and portraying them with a dreamlike and childlike quality. He travelled widely in Europe, including the Balkans and Mount Athos.
In early 1934 Trevelyan returned to England and married the potter Ursula Darwin, daughter of Bernard Darwin and great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, on 30 July 1934. In 1935, Trevelyan bought Durham Wharf, beside the River Thames in Hammersmith, London. This became his home and studio for the rest of his life and was a source of artistic inspiration to him. It was here that he continued with the methods of etching learnt from Hayter, and developed a certain intimacy with the medium, constantly pushing it in new directions. By 1936 Trevelyan was a confirmed Surrealist and exhibited at the famous International Exhibition of Surrealism at the New Burlington Galleries in London. Perhaps concerned by the rise of political extremism, Trevelyan's motivations change and in 1938 he resigned from the English Surrealist Group and began to attend pacifist demonstrations. In response to the Spanish Civil War he produced work in support of the Republican government. During the Second World War he served as a member of the Royal Engineers from 1940 to 1943, in North Africa and Palestine. Arriving in the "Western Desert" town of Tobruk, North Africa, Trevelyan realised that standard British army green and brown splotches were ineffective as desert camouflage. He and the other camoufleurs became expert at desert camouflage and deception. By 1942, they were able to deceive the German Afrika Korps, creating a dummy army which successfully tied down German forces, while real tanks were concealed or disguised as trucks and other equipment. After the war, Trevelyan became a member of the London Group in 1948.
Trevelyan’s marriage was dissolved in 1950. Their son is the film-maker Philip Trevelyan. Trevelyan then married the fellow artist Mary Fedden in 1951. Together they painted a series of murals for the Festival of Britain. The couple travelled widely, making sketches ‘en route’ which were later worked up into paintings in their studio.
From 1950-55, Trevelyan taught history of art and etching at the Chelsea School of Art. During 1955–63, he was Tutor of Engraving at the Royal College of Art, rising to Head of the Etching Department. Trevelyan became a highly influential teacher, with students including David Hockney, Ron Kitaj and Norman Ackroyd. He was an important leader of modern print techniques and is regarded as a silent driving force behind the etching revolution of the 1960s.
In 1969, he produced the Thames Suite, a collection of 12 views of the Thames from its upper reaches in Oxford and Henley-on-Thames down to the tidal stretches of London and the Estuary.
Trevelyan was awarded a senior fellowship at the Royal College of Art in 1986 and in 1987 he was appointed a Royal Academician. He passed away on 12 July 1988 in Hammersmith, London.
