Self-Portrait, Art Institute of Chicago, 1887

Van Gogh's homage to Georges Seurat's pointillism, painted in Paris in the spring of 1887 on artist's board. The background is built from small, separate dabs of contrasting blue and orange rather than blended paint. He never followed Seurat's system strictly, though: the touches change size and direction from background to jacket to face, adapted to each part of the picture. Art Institute of Chicago.