Exhibition Theme - Service

Soldier

Between Victoria and New South Wales the railway track gauge changed at Albury station. Soldiers, sailors and airmen often found themselves on cold windswept platforms late at night, waiting to change trains. In this painting, Drysdale captures the loneliness and uncertainty of a tired soldier, slumped against the wall of the Albury Railway Station, waiting for the train that will take him to his next posting. The solitary figure, huddled in his great coat with his slouch hat on his head, is a uniquely Australian image.

Oil on hardboard 60.3 x 40.7 cm
Painted in Albury, NSW, 1942
Acquired in 2004
ART92623

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