In the 19th century, John Singer Sargent was, without question, the international superstar of portraiture. His work defined Gilded Age high society. His most iconic piece? “Madame X”—one of the most famous portraits ever made. But by the early 1900s, Sargent was done. Over it. In 1907, he wrote to this friend Ralph Curtis, “No more 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴. I abhor and abjure them and hope never to do another, especially of the Upper Classes.” So he left to travel the world, taking up a new hobby: painting landscapes. What’s remarkable is how these landscapes reveal a different side of his genius. Using the same dazzling brushwork that made his portraits so vibrant, Sargent captured light and shadow in ways that make his scenes feel alive. Take “En route pour la pêche,” for example—its interplay of sunlight and deep shadows is nothing short of brilliant. __ 🖼 John Singer Sargent, “En route pour la pêche (Setting Out to Fish),” 1878, oil on canvas, 31 × 48 in., Corcoran Collect...