McBey, James "Desert of Sinai No. 2" [Trial Proof]

James McBey. "Desert of Sinai No. 2." [Trial Proof].

1919. 8 x 14 sheet. Drypoint Etching. Trial Proof. Signed in ink by artist. Edition 80. Old mat burn, otherwise good condition. 

Description: The Camel Patrol is crossing the Desert of Sinai between hills of drifting sand. (Their route is that over which the Turks retreated to Beersheba after their unsuccessful attack on the Suez Canal.) In the foreground a single rider is passing the skeleton of a camel lying, to his right, on the sand. In the middle distance, the patrol of six riders, and two guides further in front.- Hebert Furst in Original Engraving and Etching: An Appreciation.

James McBey (1883-1959) was a mostly self-taught Scottish etcher and artist. During World War I he was appointed as an official war artist, by the British Government, to the Egyptian Expeditionary Forces. Between 1917 and 1918 McBey accompanied the Allied advance in Palestine. During this time he produced 300 pieces in both watercolors and oil, along with creating portraits of the Allied commanders. Following the war he visited America in 1921 and later returned, in 1931, to marry a Philadelphia photographer and book binder named Marguerite Loeb. During World War II McBey moved to America and became a U.S. citizen in 1942. Following the war he moved to Tangier, Morocco. He lived there until his death in 1959.