Charles Wellington Furse (January 13, 1868 – October 16, 1904) was an 
English painter.
He was born at 
Staines, the son of the Rev. C. W. 
Furse, 
archdeacon of Westminster, and rector of 
St John's, Smith Square and descended collaterally from 
Sir Joshua Reynolds; and in his short span of life achieved such rare excellence as a portrait and figure painter that he forms an important link in the chain of British portraiture which extends from the time when 
Van Dyck was called to the court of 
Charles I into the 20th century.
His talent was precocious; at the age of seven he gave indications of it in a number of drawings illustrating the novels of 
Sir Walter Scott. He entered the 
Slade School in 1884, winning the Slade scholarship in the following year, and completed his education at Julians Atelier in 
Paris. Hard worker as he was, his activity was frequently interrupted by spells of illness, for he had developed signs of 
consumption whilst still attending the Slade School. An important canvas called Cain was his first contribution (1888) to the 
Royal Academy, to the associateship of which he was elected in the year of his death. For some years before he had been a staunch supporter of the 
New English Art Club, to the exhibitions of which he was a regular contributor.
In October 1900 he married Katharine Symonds, the daughter of 
John Addington Symonds. She later became known as 
Dame Katharine Furse. The couple had two sons. His fondness for sport and of an open-air life found expression in his art and introduced a new, fresh and vigorous note into portraiture. There is never a suggestion of the studio or of the fatiguing pose in his portraits. The sitters appear unconscious of being painted, and are generally seen in the pursuit of their favourite outdoor sport or pastime, in the full enjoyment of life. Such are the Diana of the Uplands, the 
Lord Roberts and The Return from the Ride at the 
Tate Gallery; the four children in the Cubbing with the York and Ainsty, The Lilac Gown, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Fishing and the portraits of 
Lord Charles Beresford and 
William Johnson Cory.
Most of these pictures, and indeed nearly all the work completed in the few years of Furse's activity, show a pronounced decorative tendency. His sense of space, composition and decorative design can best be judged by his admirable 
mural decorations for 
Liverpool Town Hall, executed between 1899 and 1902. A memorial exhibition of Furse's paintings and sketches was held at the 
Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1906.