Luke Fildes's The Empty Chair : Innovation and Influence

Abstract: Luke Fildes's The Empty Chair (1870) has been regarded primarily as an obituary image. However, close scrutiny reveals that it is a surrogate portrait of Dickens, with the chair embodying the absent sitter's identity and creativity. The chair was traditionally represented as a status symbol in art, as seen in the enthroned dignitaries in numerous ecclesiastical and secular portraits. Fildes's picture epitomizes the modern reinterpretation of the chair, infusing it with new meanings. It redefines the object as an existential signifier and helps to establish a new paradigm for interpreting and delineating the chair. This article reappraises the distinctive aesthetic qualities of The Empty Chair and its connections to other artworks. It examines its influence on later artists, particularly Van Gogh, whose chair-themed paintings resonate with Fildes's seminal work.