One of the most interesting paintings in State Library’s collection is Homeward Laddie, located in the White Gloves Room, 4th Floor. The painting depicts flocks of Marshall and Slade on Queensland’s Glengallan Station near Warwick. Artist Anthony Alder was originally from England and born into a family of taxidermists. Alder moved to Brisbane where he opened a commercial taxidermy business in 1875. He was also a bird painter of note. State Library has several of the bird paintings in the John Oxley Library collection.
Homeward Laddie is now being digitised for the upcoming Grass Dukes and Shepherd Kings Exhibition opening here in December, 2012. The painting was completed in August 1895 and exhibited at that year’s Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Brisbane, where it won first prize for the best “Original Oil Colour Painting”.
Librarian Dianne Byrne is the curator for the Grass Dukes and Shepherd Kings Exhibition that will celebrate Queensland’s pastoralists who transformed the landscape and the history of the state. The painting will be highlighted in the exhibition.
Catherine Cottle - Digital Collections Curator, State Library of Queensland
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