Most of the 16 works featured have never been shown publicly, though an oil painting, Soldier, has been often been part of World War II displays.

Drysdale was born in Britain but spent some of his childhood at Boxwood Park, Bungowannah.

In 1942, after being rejected for military service because of poor eyesight, he moved to Albury, the home town of his first wife, Bon Stephens, daughter of a bank manager.

Coincidentally, that move led to the beginning of an influential friendship with artist Donald Friend, who was serving in an army unit at Wirlinga at the time.

While Drysdale produced works in Albury, others were finished in his Sydney studio later in the war.

Drysdale gave several pastel or pen-and-ink works to the Australian War Memorial.

It has now assembled a collection that explores the effects of war and the loneliness and displacement felt by many Australians based in rural communities.

Assistant curator of art Sally Cunningham said that Drysdale’s imagery from the war presented a bleak commentary on the wartime experience of Australia’s small-town communities.

She said Soldier captured the loneliness and uncertainty of a tired soldier waiting at the Albury railway station.

“These works embody a sense of foreboding unseen in his other work and reveal feelings of isolation and uncertainty experienced by Australians moving around the home front,” she said.

Albury and Wodonga formed an important army centre in the war.

“This small exhibition is a unique opportunity for people to view a collection of unseen works by Drysdale that reveal the grim face of a nation at war,” Ms Cunningham said.

The exhibition will be displayed until early next year.