Julian Trevelyan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Julian Otto Trevelyan, RA (20 February 1910 – 12 July 1988) was a British artist.

Trevelyan was the only child of Robert Calverley Trevelyan and his wife Elizabeth van der Hoeven. His grandfather was the liberal politician Sir George Otto Trevelyan and his uncle the historian George Macaulay Trevelyan.

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

He moved to Paris to become an artist and enrolled at Atelier Dix-Sept, Stanley William Hayter's engraving school, where he learned about etching. He worked alongside famous 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 Exhibition of Surrealism, held at the New Burlington Galleries in London.

He married Ursula Darwin, daughter of Bernard Darwin and great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, but their marriage dissolved in 1950. Their son is the film-maker Philip Trevelyan. Julian Trevelyan married the painter Mary Fedden in 1951.

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.

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.

Trevelyan died on 12 July 1988 in Hammersmith, London.

Trevelyan's 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.