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Allston, Washington (1779-1843) Artist, Writer: Washington Allston was born in Waccamaw, South Carolina. After graduating from Harvard, he studied at the Royal Academy of London. From there, he went to Paris and Rome, where he developed friendships with individuals such as British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wallston worked in London for a while, and returned to the United States in 1820. In 1830, he settled in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. Allston is considered the earliest American Romantic painter. Best known for a painting of "Belshazzar's Feast," he work consisted mostly of large canvases, often of religious scenes, including "The Flood" and "Elijah in the Desert." Allston also wrote, publishing a book of poetry entitled The Sylphs of the Seasons with other Poems (1813) and a novel entitled Monalsi (1842).