Enquire about this picture£2,800

Presentation: Framed

Gouache, ink and watercolour, squared in pencil, inscribed with colour notes 14 × 18⅜ in. (36 × 46.5 cm.)

This view – possibly a composite one – is clearly rooted in the Pennines, the
Mills with tall chimneys typical of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The Rochdale Canal runs through scenes such as this, as do the Leeds, Liverpool and Huddersfield canals. The picture might be related to a mural that Sorrell completed for the company ICI in Middlesbrough in the late 1940s. The final work was rejected, because ICI objected to the great pall of smoke pouring out of the chimneys. A comparable drawing from this period, showing the construction of Mulberry Harbour, is in the Tate Collection (NO5731).

We are grateful to Paul Atterbury, Michael Barker and Richard Sorrell for assistance