Christian Furr
Encyclopedia
Christian Furr is an English painter. He was, at the age of 28, the youngest artist to officially paint Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

.
He was born in Heswall
Heswall
Heswall is a town in Wirral, in the county of Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. At the time of the 2001 Census, the total population of the ward was 16,012 , which included the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton...

, Wirral
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 311,200, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Heswall, Hoylake and West Kirby. The city of...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Furr was commissioned to paint the Queen in 1995 by the Royal Overseas League in London. The portrait now hangs there on permanent display and is viewable by the public. HRH Queen Elizabeth II chose Furr from a number of artists and the portrait was painted at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...

.

In June 2011 Furr was commissioned to paint Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace  is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...

 during GE Triathlon. In 2008 He was commissioned to paint Sultan, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Sultan, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud "Sultan Al-Khair" was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia at the time of his death. He served as the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Aviation. He was one of the Sudairi Seven. Sultan was first in the Saudi line of succession.-Early life...

. In 2002 Furr painted Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor for Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...

 along with Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue.
Robinsons
Robinsons
Robinsons or Robinson's may refer to:* Robinsons, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada* Robinson's, former name of Melones, California* Robinsons , a department store owned by Robinson & Co....

 commissioned the artist to mark 70 years on Centre Court
Centre Court
Centre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated adjacent to Aorangi Terrace and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take...

 in 2005. The giant canvas featuring Tim Henman
Tim Henman
Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is a retired English professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the...

 and Fred Perry
Fred Perry
Frederick John Perry was a championship-winning English tennis and table tennis player who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slams and two Pro Slams. Perry won three consecutive Wimbledon Championships between 1934 and 1936 and was World No. 1 four years in a row...

 was completed by over one thousand people at Wimbledon. He has appeared on several British television shows.

He taught Jade Goody
Jade Goody
Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody was an English celebrity. She came into the public spotlight while appearing on the third series of the Channel 4 reality TV programme Big Brother in 2002, an appearance which led to her own television programmes and the launch of her own products after her eviction from...

 how to paint on Channel 4's Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy was a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...

 and appeared in ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 daytime art series A Brush with Fame
A Brush With Fame
A Brush with Fame was a light hearted ITV daytime television show, featuring a nationwide search to find Britain's best amateur portrait painter. It was presented by Carol Smillie, and the last episode was broadcast on 11 November 2005.-Format:...

, presenting alongside Carol Smillie
Carol Smillie
Carol Patricia Smillie is a Scottish television personality, model and actress. Smillie is well-known for presenting the award winning BBC series Changing Rooms, which won her a National Television Award for Most Popular Factual Programme in 1998.She became the hostess of the British version of...

 and David Lee (art critic)
David Lee (art critic)
David Lee is an outspoken, English, contemporary, art critic—condemning conceptual art in general and the Turner Prize in particular...

.

Furr was awarded the Association of Colleges
Association of Colleges
The Association of Colleges sometimes shortened to the AoC is an organisation representing further education colleges in the UK, with an associated registered charitable trust. The Association was created in 1996 and provides a broad range of services to its subscribers, the subscribers being FE...

 Gold Award (2004) at the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 given to further education alumni who have gone on to achieve excellence in their chosen field. Furr was educated at Ladymount primary school, Heswall, St Anselm's College, Birkenhead
St Anselm's College, Birkenhead
St. Anselm's College is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided grammar school located in Merseyside, England. It is one of four Catholic schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, and one of three Irish Christian Brothers schools in the Merseyside area...

 did a foundation course at Wirral Metropolitan College
Wirral Metropolitan College
Wirral Metropolitan College is a Further Education College situated on the Wirral Peninsula, in the north west of England.- Overview :Wirral Met is the largest provider of post 16 learning on the Wirral and is divided into three main Campuses:...

 and a Fine Art degree at De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...



His work has been displayed in the Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his collection to the public. It has occupied different premises, first in North London, then the South Bank by the River Thames and currently in Chelsea. Saatchi's collection, and...

, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Royal Society of Portrait Painters
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a British association of portrait painters which holds an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London...

 and The Royal Watercolour Society. He is a member of Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Club
The Chelsea Arts Club is a private members club located in London with a membership of over 2,400, including artists, poets, architects, writers, dancers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers...

 and the former Colony Room

Furr's other portrait subjects include: Tim Henman
Tim Henman
Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is a retired English professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the...

, Esme Bianco
Esmé Bianco
Esmé Bianco is an English model, actress and burlesque/cabaret performer.- Biography :She was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire and spent her adolescence growing up on Merseyside....

, Gered Mankowitz
Gered Mankowitz
Gered Mankowitz is a British photographer of the rock music scene over the last 40 years. Some of his portraits of rock musicians, such as The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Slade, are now part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.-Personal life:His father was the late...

, and Fr Michael Seed
Michael Seed
Father Michael Seed is a Latin Rite Catholic, a Franciscan Friar and former Ecumenical Advisor to the Archbishop of Westminster. Seed is known for his involvement in helping several British celebrities and politicians in their journey to embrace Catholicism.- Early life :Michael Seed was born as...

. Take Art, Furr's how-to-draw book, was published in August 2008.

External links

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