Royal Charles Steadman Watercolors

Royal Charles Steadman (1875-1964) was born in Portland, Maine. Among his educational credits, Steadman listed general art studies at the School of Drawing and Painting of the Museum of Fine Arts and at the Cowles Art School, both of which were located in Boston, Massachusetts. At the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, he studied jewelry design. He became the head jewelry designer for a commercial firm. He also designed stage scenery and served as an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design.

In 1915, Steadman began his career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a pomological artist for the Bureau of Plant Industry. Using as models the live specimens sent to USDA by farmers, growers, and plant explorers, Steadman produced watercolors of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Occasionally, he also created black and white and pen and ink drawings. In addition, he constructed wax models of fruits and vegetables. He also painted watercolors of fruits that had been stored at cool temperatures, showing the effects of freezing and cold storage on plant tissues. While employed by USDA, Steadman pursued outside artistic endeavors in his spare time. For his colleague, the pomological artist Amanda Newton, he painted a portrait of her grandfather, Isaac Newton, a former commissioner of agriculture. He also painted historical scenes and submitted several designs for postage stamps to the U.S. postmaster general.

In 1920, Steadman was promoted to botanical artist. He retired from USDA in 1941.