Alan Sorrell

Sorrell was born in Tooting, London, and moved to Southend, Essex, at the age of two.Sorrell, Mark,[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/52629 Sorrell, Alan Oxford Dictionary of National Biography], Oxford University Press, accessed 11 December 2011 The son and second child of Ernest Thomas Sorrell (1861–1910), a jeweller and watchmaker, and his wife Edith Jane Sorrell, née Doody (1867–1951), Alan Sorrell would often go with his father on trips away drawing landscapes as a child. However, most of his childhood was spent confined to a bath chair due to a suspected heart condition. The early death of his father also resulted in Sorrell's being very reclusive.

Sorrell trained at the Southend municipal school of art and, after a brief spell as a commercial artist in London, he attended the Royal College of Art between 1924 and 1927. Whilst there, he met William Rothenstein who would act as a mentor for Sorrell and became a close friend. In 1928, Sorrell won the British Prix de Rome in Mural painting and spent the next three years at the British School at Rome.

Sorrell returned to England in 1931 and became drawing master at the Royal College of Art where his contemporaries included Gilbert Spencer. He began his archaeological reconstruction drawings after a chance meeting in 1936 with Kathleen Kenyon on a dig of a Roman site in Leicester, who asked him to produce illustrations for her article for The Illustrated London News. More commissions then followed at Maiden Castle, in collaboration with Mortimer Wheeler, and at Roman Caerwent and Carleon, in collaboration with Cyril Fox and V. E. Nash-Williams of the National Museum of Wales.{{cite journal | title=Alan Sorrell: The Man who created Roman Britain; The Alan Sorrell Archive |author1=Sorrell, Julia |author2=Perry, Sara |author3=Johnson, Matthew | journal=British Archaeology |date=November–December 2012 | pages=22–27}}

File:Southampton Dock by Alan Sorrell, 1944, (Tate N05731).jpg

File:FIDO in Operation (Art. IWM ART LD 5593).jpg in Operation, 1945 (Art.IWM ART LD 5593)]]

During World War II, Sorrell worked in the Royal Air Force in 1940, and then was transferred to the Air Ministry in 1941, applying his artistic talents to help camouflage aerodromes.{{cite web|url=http://camoupedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/camouflage-artist-alan-sorrell.html|title=C A M O U P E D I A|author= |work=camoupedia.blogspot.co.uk|date=29 May 2012}} For a time he worked in the high security Central Intelligence unit at RAF Medmenham, where he was part of a team working on terrain models for bombing missions, and on models of battleships, such as the German battleship {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2}}.Alastair W. Pearson: Cartographic and Geographical Information Science Vol.29, No 3, 2002, pp. 227–241 Sorrell later claimed that he had refused to work on terrain models of cities he thought were of "irreplaceable artistic importance".{{cite book|author=Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss|publisher=Liss Llewellyn Fine Art|year=2016|title=WWII War Pictures by British Artists|isbn=978-0-9930884-2-1}} He created artworks of air force life in his spare time as well as completing several short-term commissions from the War Artists' Advisory Committee, WAAC, to depict airfields and runway construction. In total WAAC acquired some 26 paintings from Sorrell.

After the war Sorrell's archaeological work was to take up more and more of his time. Commissions came from archaeologists such as Professor W. F. Grimes for the London Mithraeum dig, from The Illustrated London News and later from the Ministry of Works."Hysteria Gloom and Foreboading" by Mke Pitts in British Archaeology July/August 2005 No 83 Public awareness of his work was increased by his prolific output and his many publications, starting with 'Roman Britain' (1961), as well drawings commissioned for TV series such as Who Were the British? for Anglia TV. Professor Barry Cunliffe wrote:

{{blockquote|To those of us whose interests were kindled and nurtured by the remarkable wave of popular archaeology in the 1950s the name of Alan Sorrell was as well known as those of Glyn Daniel and Sir Mortimer Wheeler. All were experts and scholars in their own fields and all were using their powers of communication to breathe life into the unprepossessing rubble foundations and dreary potsherds that formed the raw material of archaeological research.Reconstructing the Past by Alan Sorrell, edited by Mark Sorrell, 1978.}}

Throughout this post-war period, Sorrell still found time for his more imaginative work, which was exhibited at both the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Academy plus other venues. The titles were often evocative, such as The Fallen Emperors, The Stone Men and The Dark Tower. A strong characteristic of these paintings is, according to Sorrell, "a sense of the decay of a noble past, and this and their treatment, in its starkness and drama, links them inevitably with his archaeological drawings".

Sorrell was married twice, first to Irene Agnes Mary Oldershaw in 1932; they divorced in 1946. His second marriage was to the watercolour artist Elizabeth Sorrell née Tanner in 1947. They lived and raised their family in a small converted chapel in Daws Heath in southeast Essex. They had three children, Richard Sorrell (born 1948), an artist, Mark Sorrell (born 1952), a writer, and Julia Sorrell (born 1955), also an artist.

As an active member of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Sorrell worked to help preserve ancient trees and woodlands in his local area."An Artist's memories of a living wood" by Julia Sorrell, Living Woods No 20, Jan/Feb 2012 pp 20–21, This was indicative of his Neo-Romantic outlook which was reflected in works such as The Spoilers, The Planting of the trees,[http://frontpage.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfgallery/galleryartists/juliasorrell/julia.htm Woodland Trust: Julia Sorrell] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426164512/http://frontpage.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfgallery/galleryartists/juliasorrell/julia.htm |date=26 April 2012 }} and The Assault which was left unfinished on his easel at the time of his death.{{cite web|url=http://saveourwoods.co.uk/get-involved/love-trees/an-appreciation-of-trees-by-julia-sorrell|title=An Appreciation of Trees by Julia Sorrell|work=saveourwoods.co.uk}}

He died in 1974, and is buried in Sutton cemetery, Southend-on-Sea, with his wife Elizabeth, who died in 1991.

• Imperial War Museum[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=alan%20sorrell Imperial War Museum: Alan Sorrell]. Retrieved 7 January 2013. (13 works)
• Liss Fine Art[http://www.alansorrell.com/index.htm Liss Fine Art: Works by Alan Sorrell]. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
• London Transport Museum[http://www.ltmcollection.org/posters/artist/artist.html?IXartist=Alan+Sorrell London Transport Museum: Artist – Alan Sorrell]. Retrieved 7 January 2013. (3 works)
• Museum of London[http://www.museumoflondonprints.com/search/keywords/alan%20sorrell Museum of London: Alan Sorrell]. Retrieved 7 January 2013. (13 works)
• Sir John Soane's Museum[http://www.soane.org/exhibitions/alan_sorrell Sir John Soane's Museum: Alan Sorrell Exhibition 25 October 2013 – 25 January 2014]. Retrieved 7 January 2013. (Exhibition 2013–2014)
• Tate Gallery[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/alan-sorrell-1964 Tate Gallery: Alan Sorrell]. Retrieved 7 January 2013. (2 works)
• English Heritage (40 works)
• National Museum Cardiff{{cite web|url=http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/search/?q=alan+sorrell+|title=Search - National Museum Wales|work=National Museum Wales}}https://www.flickr.com/photos/museumwales/3653239793/ {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}
• Government Art Collection{{cite web|url=http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/artist.aspx?id=117741|title=Government Art Collection - Artists|author=Government Art Collection|work=culture.gov.uk|access-date=8 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404200537/http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/artist.aspx?id=117741|archive-date=4 April 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} (3 works)
• Arts Council Collection{{cite web|url=http://www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk/loadWork.do?id=1650|title=Redirect: Artists|work=artscouncilcollection.org.uk}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
• Cadw"Alan Sorrell: Early Wales Re-created" National Museum of Wales, Cardiff 1980
• Historic ScotlandBritish Castles text and illustrations by Alan Sorrell, B T Batsford Ltd, London 1973 {{ISBN|0-7134-1119-8}}
• Manchester Art Gallery{{Art UK bio}} (two works)
• Verulanium Museum[https://archive.today/20130423223405/http://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/content/view/full/14438 St Albans Museums]
• Royal Air Force Museum London (3 works)
• Beecroft Art Gallery{{cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/abu-simbel-nubia-2838|title=BBC - Your Paintings - Abu Simbel, Nubia|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=11 February 2018|df=dmy-all}} (70+ works inc. Nubia collection)
• Magdelen College, Oxford{{cite web|url=https://artuk.org/search/search/search/keyword:alan-sorrell|title=Your Paintings - Paintings|work=bbc.co.uk}} (two works inc. portrait of C S Lewis)
• Royal Academy of Music{{cite web |url=http://www.alansorrell.ukartists.com/index_files/Page537.htm |title=Blank |website=www.alansorrell.ukartists.com |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216235611/http://www.alansorrell.ukartists.com/index_files/Page537.htm |archive-date=16 February 2013 |url-status=dead}} (1 work)
• Museum of Reading[http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/archaeology/silchester Reading Museum: Silchester] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819175414/http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/archaeology/silchester/ |date=19 August 2012 }}
• Dorset Museum[https://archive.today/20130216235611/http://www.alansorrell.ukartists.com/index_files/Page537.htm Alan Sorrell Alan Sorrell](1 work)
• British Museum
• Portsmouth Museum
• Corporation of London{{cite web|url=https://artuk.org/search/search/search/keyword:alan-sorrell|title=Your Paintings - Alan Sorrell paintings|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=11 February 2018|df=dmy-all}}
• British Postal Museum and Archive (1 work)
• Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield (2 works)
• Bradford Art Galleries (1 Work)
• Tyne & Wear Museums and Archive (1 work){{cite web|url=http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/artonline/search/quickres.php?searchterms=Sorrell+&within=all|title=Tyne & Wear Museums - Art online|work=twmuseums.org.uk|access-date=1 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501092957/http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/artonline/search/quickres.php?searchterms=Sorrell+&within=all|archive-date=1 May 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
• Norwich Castle Museum (2 work)[https://archive.today/20130423191845/http://www.culturalmodes.norfolk.gov.uk/projects/nmaspub5.asp?page=item&itemId=NWHCM Castle Museum, Norwich]
• Colchester Castle Museum (3 works)
• Chelmsford Museum and Art Gallery
• South Mill Arts Bishop's Stortford MuseumThe Illustrated London News, 18 July 1953
• Wearing Art Gallery (1 work)
• Stoke Museum Service (1 work)
• Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery Carlisle
• Royal Cornwall Museum Truro (2 works)
• The National Maritime Museum (1 work)
• The Mitchell J Wolfson Museum of Decorative & Propaganda Art, Miami (1 work)
• Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Glasgow (1 work)
• Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum (3 works)
• National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty{{Cite web | url=http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1246611 | title=Bramber Castle, West Sussex 1246611}}

• Latinum A reader for the first stage of Latin by C.B. Robinson with illustrations by Alan Sorrell, Cambridge at the University Press, 1940
• Roman Britain text by Aileen Fox, drawings by Alan Sorrell, Lutterworth Press, London 1961
• Saxon England text by John Hamilton, drawings by Alan Sorrell, Lutterworth Press, London 1964
• Living History, text and drawings by Alan Sorrell, B T Batsfords Ltd, London 1965
• Norman Britain text by H. R. Loyn, drawings by Alan Sorrell, Lutterworth Press, London 1966
• Prehistoric Britain text by Barbara Green, drawings by Alan Sorrell, Lutterworth Press, London 1968
• The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version Colour illustrations by Alan Sorrell, William Collins & Sons, London 1968 {{ISBN|0-7188-1766-4}}
• Imperial Rome, by Anthony Birley and Alan Sorrell, Lutterworth Press, London 1970 {{ISBN|0-7188-1367-7}}
• Stories from Livy by R.M. Ogilvie, original drawings and maps by Alan Sorrell, Oxford University Press, 1970
• Nubia: A Drowning Land text by Margaret S. Drower, paintings by Alan Sorrell, Longmans, London & Harlow, 1970. {{ISBN|978-0-582-16440-6}}
• British Castles text and illustrations by Alan Sorrell, B T Batsford Ltd, London 1973 {{ISBN|0-7134-1119-8}}
• Roman Towns in Britain text and illustrations by Alan Sorrell, foreword by Dr Graham Webster, B T Batsford Ltd, London 1976 {{ISBN|978-0-7134-3237-4}}
• Medieval Britain Drawing by Alan Sorrell & Richard Sorrell, Lutterworth Press, London 1978
• Alan Sorrell: Ail-greu'r Gorffenol (1980. National Museum of Wales)
• Reconstructing the Past by Alan Sorrell, edited by Mark Sorrell, Batsfords, 1981, {{ISBN|0-7134-1588-6}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Alan Sorrell}}

• {{Art UK bio}}
• [http://www.alansorrell.ukartists.com Official website] (maintained by his family)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025857/https://digitalhumanities.soton.ac.uk/projects/sorrell University of Southampton: Alan Sorrell Project]

{{Camoufleurs}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:1904 births

Category:1974 deaths

Category:20th-century English male artists

Category:20th-century English painters

Category:Academics of the Royal College of Art

Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art

Category:Artists from Essex

Category:Burials in Essex

Category:Camoufleurs

Category:English male painters

Category:English muralists

Category:People from Southend-on-Sea

Category:People from Tooting

Category:Prix de Rome (Britain) winners

Category:Royal Air Force airmen

Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II

Category:World War II artists

Category:20th-century British war artists