Julian Trevelyan

Early life

Trevelyan was the only child to survive to adulthood of Robert Calverley Trevelyan and his wife Elizabeth van der Hoeven. His grandfather was the liberal politician Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and his uncle the historian George Macaulay Trevelyan; he is the great-uncle of his namesake, Julian Trevelyan the pianist.

Julian Trevelyan was educated at Bedales School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read English Literature.

Artistic career

He moved to Paris to become an artist, enrolling at Atelier Dix-Sept, Stanley William Hayter's engraving school, where he learned etching. He worked alongside artists including Max Ernst, Oskar Kokoschka, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso.

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. He became a confirmed Surrealist and exhibited at the International Surrealist Exhibition, held at the New Burlington Galleries in London.

From 1950 to 1955, 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 where he was influential to many younger printmakers, including David Hockney and Norman Ackroyd.

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.

Wartime camoufleur

Along with other artists such as Roland Penrose, during the Second World War, Trevelyan served as a Camouflage Officer. He was a member of the Royal Engineers from 1940 to 1943, serving in North Africa and Palestine.

Arriving in the "Western Desert" town of Tobruk, North Africa, Trevelyan realized that standard British army green and brown splotches were ineffective as desert camouflage. He and the other camoufleurs, working under Hugh Cott and Geoffrey Barkas, 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.

Awards and distinctions

In July 1986, Trevelyan was awarded a senior fellowship at the Royal College of Art and in September 1987 he was appointed a Royal Academician.

Family

He married the potter Ursula Darwin, daughter of Bernard Darwin and his wife Elinor (née Monsall) on 30 July 1934. She was a great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin; their marriage was dissolved in 1950. Their son is the film-maker Philip Trevelyan.

Trevelyan's second wife was the painter Mary Fedden; they married in 1951.

Trevelyan died on 12 July 1988 in Hammersmith, London.

Works and exhibitions

Trevelyan's first solo exhibition was at the Lefevre Gallery in 1937.

His work has been exhibited at the Bloomsbury Gallery, Messum's and the New Burlington Galleries in London, and the Bohun Gallery and River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, among other places.

To celebrate the centenary of his birth, an exhibition of his prints was held at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester from 10 May to 13 June 2010.

Bohun Gallery, Henley on Thames, handle the artist's estate, and stages regular exhibitions of his paintings and etchings.

105 of his artworks are now held in the collection of the Tate Gallery.

Trevelyan recorded some of his experiences in his book Indigo days, MacGibbon and Kee, London, 1957.

Bohun Gallery, Henley on Thames held a major retrospective of the artist's work 'Julian Trevelyan: Picture Language' 23 April - 1 June 2013, which included previously unseen paintings and etchings. The exhibition launched the new monograph on Julian Trevelyan, written by his son Philip Trevelyan.