Elizabeth Sorrell was a British painter. Born in North Yorkshire in 1916, the Sorrell family relocated to Eastbourne in the artist’s youth. Sorrel studied at the Eastbourne School of Art between the years of 1934 – 1938 before attending the Royal College of Art to study mural painting where she graduated in 1942. Her early academic career was marked by several accolades, including a number of prizes, medals and scholarships which allowed the artist to study in France and Italy. On completion of her studies Sorrell worked in an armaments factory during the Second World War, before serving as a teacher at the Blackpool School of Art until 1945. Her artistic career began in earnest after the War, when Sorrell worked as a wallpaper designer for some time. She soon focused her artistic efforts on watercolour painting, a medium in which she excelled. The work Sorrell produced largely took the form of still life paintings executed with keen attention to detail. Her sensitive ability to convey light and texture in her work contributed to Sorrell becoming one of the most eminent watercolourists of her time.

Though her still life studies are considered to be the most enduring examples of her work, Sorrell was also an accomplished portrait and landscape painter, her attention to detail evident in all forms of her work. The artist was elected a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1958. From the 1950s, Sorrell regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art and the New English Art Club, continuing to contribute works until the later stages of her life. The artist died in 1991. Her work can be seen today in several British collections, including the Tate in London.