It’s hard to imagine finding the ‘amusing’ side of war, however acclaimed World War One cartoonist Hal Eyre did just with his highly regarded satirical cartoons.
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This rarely seen view of the War is now on show at Tenterfield Public Library in a free display of Eyre’s work, drawn from the State Library of NSW collection. Be quick, though, because the display packs up tomorrow, December 14.
It features reproductions of 20 of Eyre’s most comical cartoons which are beautiful and enlightening illustrations of the debates and controversies of the time.
“Cartoons provide valuable social commentary on key historical events, and Hal Eyre was one of the most important social commentators on the war,” State Library curator Elise 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.
“Enemy nations were often represented as prevailing racial stereotypes.”
In 1920 the State Library purchased 357 original drawings he produced for the paper during World War One.
Highlights of the Hal Eyre display include depictions of soldiers at Gallipoli, patriotic depictions of the recruitment marches through country NSW, and heroic Australian diggers triumphing over their enemies.
