R.A. “Rob” Brown, Jr. of Throckmorton, TX, was honored as the 2018 inductee during a ceremony Nov. 11 at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville. At the event, he was presented with his portrait, which will hang in the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery.
Induction into the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery is the highest honor bestowed in the livestock industry. Founded in 1903, the gallery is the largest collection of noted artists in the world devoted to a single industry, and honors the most influential men and women who have significantly contributed or furthered livestock production.
Rob built R. A. Brown Ranch into one of the substantial ranches in the country that encompassed a Quarter Horse band, multiple seedstock breeds, commercial cow-calf herds, stocker operations, cattle feeding, and farming. His livestock have made a significant impact on the world’s genetics.
With his amazing commitment to service, Rob has served in leadership roles for many state, regional and national organizations including the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, (NCBA) American Simmental Association (ASA), Senepol Cattle Breeders Association, National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium, Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, (TSCRA) Texas Animal Health Commission, Texas Tech University and the Ranching Heritage Association.
Rob said, “This is the most prestigious award I could ever receive. It certainly is the most humbling.”
Throughout the years, Rob and wife Peggy’s primary focus has been to instill love in the family and foster family relations. Rob is quick to give credit for their success to his lifelong bride and business partner, Peggy. The Browns have been progressive in generational transfer, as well, and have all four of their children and their families back at the ranch growing successful businesses.
Rob has lived by the motto of “be progressive yet practical and embrace science while respecting tradition.”
Not only has he had a lasting impact on the industry living by this motto, he has instilled these values into his highly successful family, which will assure Brown family leadership for years to come. And now his portrait hangs amongst some of the greatest in the livestock industry.
About the portrait
Rob’s portrait, like 23 earlier Saddle and Sirloin portraits, was painted by Richard Halstead. Halstead is a master portrait painter and instructor from Chicago.
Unlike many of the older portraits that are from the gallery’s 115-year history, Halstead’s work includes not only the inductee, but the trappings of their ranching way of life. As in Rob’s portrait, many of Halstead’s Saddle and Sirloin works include paintings or other Western art that might be seen in the inductee’s office or home. Similarly, some past works have included the inductee in the saddle or beside a pasture of cattle.
On Halstead’s website, he says that he enlists the help of friends and family members of the portrait subject, “who can guide me toward an expression of the wholeness of this person’s character.
“I use all of these in creating a portrait that represents both the subject’s public persona and the more nuanced personality experienced by people who know him or her well.” —WLJ
