Part abstract and part industrial landscape, this combined collage and photomontage was made by Julian Trevelyan, one of the principle artists involved in the Mass Observation project in 1937-8, a social research study from which Bolton Art Gallery has a large collection of material.

The work's Surrealist influences can clearly be seen, especially in the fragmented portraits that cascade on the lower left of the work, and in Trevelyan's substitution of torn newspaper in the place of white clouds. This has been attributed to the artist's time spent in Paris in 1931, where he worked alongside artists including Max Ernst.

Provenance

Trevelyan Family Archive. The collage remained part of Julian Trevelyan's personal collection from the date of its creation (1937) to his death. Following his death, it passed to his family, where it has remained ever since.


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