In 1934, when Julian Trevelyan and his first wife Ursula were looking for a home, they hoped to find sufficient space to build a pottery kiln for Ursula and to create a studio for Julian. Walking along the tow path between Hammersmith bridge and Chiswick Mall, they discovered Durham Wharf, alongside the Thames.

Durham Wharf comprised a series of buildings once used for importing and distributing coal. However, in 1925, Gwen Pike and Elspeth Little established The Footprints Workshop in the spacious unused buildings, producing hand printed cloth, designed by various designers, including most notably, Paul Nash. The sculptor Eric Kennington’s second wife, Celandine was a supporter of the workshop and consequently Eric began using the buildings closest to the river as a studio. Between 1932 and 1934, the film-maker and kinetic sculptor Ken Lye was also based at Durham Warf.

When the Trevelyan’s took over the lease in 1934, they commissioned their architect friend Kit Nicholson (brother of Ben), to divide the workshops up and make a section of them liveable; this became Julian and Ursula’s studio and home.  Indeed, Durham Wharf provided Trevelyan with a home, until his death in 1988 and the constantly changing view over the Thames, provided Trevelyan with an endless source of inspiration.

Durham Wharf became an artistic hub under Trevelyan. Artists, musicians, dancers, photographers, writers, architects and engineers were regular visitors and organisations such as the Artists International Association or the Surrealist Group,met there. They would come together for parties, dinners, meetings, and later, concerts where young musicians from the Menuhin School of Music, where Mary Fedden, Trevelyan’s second wife, taught. Trevelyan would invite printmakers to work in his print studio, including newly established practitioners. In 1935, Trevelyan set up the Picture Lending Library, where his work, along with that of other notable artists including Max Ernst, Viera da Silva, Stanley Spencer, John Tunnard, Victor Passmore and Cecil Collins, was available for clients to take on a sale or return basis. The venture continued until 1946. From the 1960s, Trevelyan and Mary Fedden established an ‘Open Studio’ for three days each summer and this proved so popular, the format has become nationwide.

Thanks to the generosity of the artist Mary Fedden, and various fundraising ventures including a sale at Sotheby’s in November 2016, we raised funds for the restoration of the already famous studios at Durham Wharf. It was a project, to be overseen by the Trevelyan family and the Turner Prize winning architects ‘Assemble’. Our primary goal was to ensure that this riverside sanctuary remained a place in which people could be creative, with a focus on the visual arts, but not exclusively so.

Thirteen years later, we are planning to use most of the money raised by this auction sale to increase funds borrowed from the Durham Wharf Foundation, a registered charity established by Mary Fedden and currently governed by a group of close friends and three trustees from the Trevelyan family.  That work is nearly complete and we now have generous workshop and living spaces, fitted out to the highest of environmental standards. The trustees are looking to establish scholarships and are busy looking at different ways of both raising money and mainly filling the live/work spaces with deserving post-graduate talent. We will also be looking for at least one mature artist capable of already contributing proper studio fees, while the younger artists will be expected to find outside work to help cover their living expenses.  Ideally, we intend to retain the use of the studios for artists from a range of different disciplines and are in contact with the Royal Colleges of Art and Music and the Royal Academy Schools.

We will soon be in a position to start celebrating the finished restoration with different events. There will be concerts which include the use of our restored Bosendorfer piano and various picture exhibitions from the Julian Trevelyan collection, including work by the Ashington Miners.

View page turning catalogue

Auction Details

Wednesday 11 March 2026, 10.30am GMT

Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

Bidding is available in person at our salerooms, online, by telephone or you can leave commission (absentee) bids.

Browse the auction
Sign up to email alerts

Viewing:
Dreweatts London (highlights): 16-17 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU

• Friday 27 February: 10am–4pm
• Monday 2 March: 10am–4pm
• Tuesday 3 March: 10am–7pm

Dreweatts Newbury (full sale): Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

• Saturday 7 March: 10am-3pm
• Sunday 8 March: 10am-3pm
• Monday 9 March: 10am-4pm
• Tuesday 10 March: 10am-4pm

Further Information: 
General enquiries: + 44 (0) 1635 553 553 | pictures@dreweatts.com
Press enquiries: press@dreweatts.com