(b Staines, 13 Jan 1868; d Camberley, 6 Oct 1904). English painter. He studied at the Slade School of Art from 1884, at the Académie Julian, Paris, and the Westminster School of Art. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy (1888–1904), where his portraits brought him widespread fame, and from 1891 at the New English Art Club. The possible influences of Holl and Whistler can be seen in such sombre half-length works as John Murray (c. 1891; London, N.P.G.). In 1892 Furse took a studio in Tite Street (near to that of John Singer Sargent), where he worked on his monumental equestrian group portrait of Lord Roberts (3.4*4.54 m, 1893–5; London, Tate; unfinished). In later figure paintings such as the Return from the Ride (1902; London, Tate) an outdoor background with a horse and/or dogs is a dominant theme. Furse’s free brushstrokes together with lighter colour and strong highlights show Sargent’s influence. In 1900 Furse married Katharine, daughter of John Addington Symonds, the model for his most celebrated work, Diana of the Uplands (1903–4; London, Tate). He painted murals of dockside working scenes in the town hall in Liverpool (1899–1901). In 1904 he was elected ARA; later that year he died of tuberculosis, and a memorial exhibition was held at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1906.