Identity:

Charles Wellington Furse was an English painter who married Katharine Addington Symonds the daughter of John Addington Symonds.

Life:

Furse received his artistic education at the Slade School of Art from 1884, at the Académie Julian in Paris and then at the Westminster School of Art. He was a regular exhibitor at the R.A., becoming particularly renowned for his portraits. From 1891 he began exhibiting with the New English Art Club. The influence of Whistler can be seen in his half-length sombre-toned portraits, e.g. John Murray (ca 1891; National Portrait Gallery, London). In 1890 Furse was among those who would join Whistler to drink and talk at the Savile Club in London.

In 1891 Furse moved to Tite Street, close to the residence of John Singer Sargent. His later works show the influence of Sargent in their loose brushworks and lighter tone. He was a member of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, of which Whistler was elected chairman of the executive committee on 16 February 1898 and then president on 23 April 1898. In 1904 Furse was elected A.R.A.

Bibliography:

Illustrated Memoir of Charles Wellington Furse ARA, London, 1908; Furse, K., Hearts and Pomegranates: The Study of Forty-five Years, 1895 to 1920, London, 1940; Wimbush, Sarah, 'Charles Wellington Furse', The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, ed. L. Macy, http://www.groveart.com (accessed 22 February 2002).