Julian Otto Trevelyan, RA (20 February 1910 – 12 July 1988) was a
British artist and
poet.
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 Surrealist Exhibition, 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 was 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 and
Norman Ackroyd.
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. To celebrate the centenary of the birth of Trevelyan, a new exhibition of his prints will be held at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester from 10 May to 13 June 2010.