Lot 190: Charles Wellington Furse, A.R.A. (1868-1904)

Portrait of the artist's wife, later Dame Katherine Furse, G.B.E, R.R.C. (1875-1952)
signed with intials and inscribed with holes punched in the canvas 'TO MOTHER FROM CWF' (lower left)
oil on canvas
26 x 20 in. (66.1 x 50.8 cm.)

Furse was a short-lived but highly original talent, who produced one of the most innovative and best loved of all Edwardian portraits, Diana of the Uplands, now in Tate Britan. His wife Katherine modelled for the figure holding two greyhounds straining at the leash, silhouetted against 'a wind filled sky and windswept landscape'. The full-length portrait was shown at the Royal Academy of 1903 to critical acclaim. Furse was pronounced a rival to Sargent, and perhaps his superior in his ability to animate a composition. He was unable to capitalise on the success of the picture however as having suffered from protracted ill-health he died from tubercolosis in 1904.

Furse married in 1900. His wife was the daughter of John Addington Symonds and was active in the Great War in various volunteer organisations including the Women's Royal Naval Service. Between 1928 and 1938 she was Director of the World Bureau for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

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