"The Empty Chair" - Luke Fildes (1870)

Following up on "Dickens' Dream" by R.W. Buss, that painting was apparently inspired by the earlier "The Empty Chair," as painted by Luke Fildes in June 1870, shortly after the death of Charles Dickens:

Sir Samuel Luke Fildes (1843-1927) was a young artist working with Dickens on "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" when the author passed away, and the loss prompted the painting of the titular empty chair in Dickens's study.

To continue the story a bit, an engraving of the painting was published in "The Graphic" in 1882, which caught the eye of Vincent Van Gogh, an admirer of Dickens:

So, this led to Van Gogh's own "Chair" painting from 1888:

At least that's how I understand it, all of this being way over my head from an art world standpoint!