This rarely seen view of the war will be on display at Lithgow Library Learning Centre from September 29 until October 12, drawn from the State Library of NSW collection of 357 original drawings purchased in 1920.

The display features reproductions of 20 of his most comical cartoons which are beautiful and enlightening illustrations of the debates and controversies of the time.

“It is wonderful that exhibitions of such national importance and quality are accessible to our community,” Mayor Stephen Lesslie said.

State Library curator Elise Edmonds said Eyre’s work provided a valuable insight into Australia’s thinking during WW1.

“Cartoons provide valuable social commentary on key historical events, and Hal Eyre was one of the most important social commentators on the war,” Ms Edmonds said.

Hal Eyre (1875-1946) was born at Sofala, NSW and attended school in Forbes and later Bathurst, where he began his artistic career by caricaturing his schoolteacher.

Eyre’s cartoons were in great demand during the war and in 1908 he was employed as the regular political cartoonist for the Daily Telegraph.

According to Ms Edmonds many of the Hal Eyre sketches hold hidden messages and were products of their time.

“He used animals as metaphors for nation states, and drew fascinating caricatures of well-known European and Australian leaders,” she said.

For more information contact the Lithgow Library on 6352 9100.