Trevelyan had a close affinity to Paris and France, indeed he only left the country at the out brake of war in 1939 (traveling on the same channel ferry as Roland Penrose and Lee Miller). The period immediately preceding the war saw Trevelyan develop a style described as "confidently his own" by his son Philip. His inherent wit and engagement with everyday life came to the fore, and his more mannered Surrealism was tempered towards a more personal vision (indeed he had declared himself independent and resigned from the English Surrealist Group in 1938). On returning to England, Trevelyan's work developed rapidly. Many of his canvases were characterised by a heightened use of colour, and he became (not unnaturally) preoccupied with the impending war and the threat of his own call-up. During this period, he returned to the theme of Paris. Rather than being 'from life', these paintings are a rather wistful and melancholic remembrance of the life he used to have, and the life he still craved.