U.S. Destroyer Escort in North Atlantic

Victor Julien Trip was born as Victor Julien in 1913 in Jogyakarta, Indonesia (then the Dutch East Indies), and later adopted the surname of his stepfather, Sibelius Trip. He received his education in architecture at the MTS (Middelbare Technische School) in Bogor, Indonesia, which provided him with technical training that would influence his approach to visual composition and design throughout his artistic career.

Trip worked as an illustrator and layout designer at the Koninklijke Drukkerij "De Unie" (Royal Printing House "De Unie") in Jakarta, which was the publisher of "De Java Bode" and the weekly magazine "Wereldkroniek." During his employment there, he learned various graphic techniques that would later inform his artistic practice. This commercial work provided him with professional experience in visual communication and printing processes.

In 1942, Trip was arrested by the Japanese during their occupation of the Dutch East Indies and was sent to the Kesilir internment camp. During his imprisonment, he continued to create art, making numerous drawings in his sketchbook that documented naval battles, air battles, and Wild West scenes. These wartime sketches represent an important body of work that captured both his immediate experiences and his artistic imagination during a period of extreme hardship.