American painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) had all of Europe’s aristocracy clamoring for a portrait sitting with him at the height of his fame when he chose to dedicate himself to landscape painting. Considered the last great generalist, he was as equally adept at Impressionism, classic portraiture, landscape, water color, murals, and even sculpture. He painted two U.S. presidents, business tycoons, war generals and his fellow artists just as passionately as he painted street children, the back alleys of Venice, and Moorish ruins. Sargent also was on the front lines during WWI to document the horrors of war.