Sudanese Express Passing Abu Simbel, 1961 (pencil, ink & gouache on paper)

In 1962 Sorrell was commissioned by The Illustrated London News to make a series of drawings of the monuments and villages of Nubia that would be submerged as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Sorrell was supplied with a launch by the Egyptian Government, and visited Abu Simbel, Buhen and many of the temples along the Nile. In this dramatic scene, painted after his return, the tourist steamer Sudanese Express passes Ramesses II’s great temple at Abu Simbel with a floodlight illuminating the huge figures and a shower of sparks spilling from the funnel.