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Conservation and Technology
Technical Examination of a work by Julian Trevelyan
Julian Trevelyan was a British painter and etcher best known
for his early surrealist work of the late 1930s. Never afraid
to experiment with artistic genres, subject matter, and materials,
he often pared scenes down to their bare essentials using a
minimal palette. Woman in a Courtyard (1933) is a
prime example of his unconventional technique. Using
both oil and household paints, he painted in prussian blue,
synthetic ultramarine, vermilion and earth colours, shifting
the hue and tone of his paint with black and white.
Cross Section of Paint Layers
Detail showing Graphite
Detail showing Sawdust
He created complex and interesting textures by adding wood
chips and sawdust to his paint and by scratching lines into
the wet surface with a sharp pencil. He worked and re-worked
the composition, leaving the pentimenti of previous forms visible.
Mary Fedden, the artist’s widow, gifted the work to
Tate after finding it in his studio, damp, and folded in thirds.
Due to the extensive damage and paint loss, it was considered
a candidate for the study collection. The work was resurrected
after a precarious treatment complicated by the variation of
material sensitivity and surface topography. A complex
arrangement of aqueous, and dry materials were used to surface
clean the painting. An equally complex combination of
fill and inpainting media were employed to recreate the variations
in surface gloss and texture. A full technical examination
of the work was carried out which aided and enabled the treatment
decision-making process.
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