Richard Morrell Staigg

Richard Morrell Staigg (7 September 1817 Leeds, England - 11 October 1881 Newport, Rhode Island) or R.M.

[1][2] When he was about thirteen years of age he was placed in an architect's office, and he subsequently received a few weeks' instruction in portrait painting.

He was a regular exhibitor at the National Academy of Design, New York City, of which he was elected an associate in 1856, and an academician in 1861.

The last twenty years of his life were devoted to painting life-size portraits in oil, as well as genre pieces and landscapes.

Among his works in oil are portraits of himself, of Russell Sturgis and George H. Calvert, and the "Crossing Sweeper," "The Sailor's Grave" (1862), and "Cat's Cradle" (1863).