22 Oct 2025 – 22 Feb 2026
Project Space
To coincide with two new site-specific commissions at The Courtauld Gallery, acclaimed artist Rachel Jones (b. 1991) has chosen Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889) in The Courtauld’s collection as the springboard for a new creative project led by The Courtauld Learning team.
For Jones, Van Gogh’s work “is the epitome of how to use colour, texture and a sense of self to create an image”.
Inspired by Van Gogh and Rachel Jones, students across the UK, local community members, and families, have participated in free workshops, projects and events, exploring Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear through art and art history to create their own artworks exploring ‘sense of self’.
Selected artworks will be displayed in Project Space at The Courtauld Gallery, presenting a diverse range of creative responses, from sound and moving image, installation, poetry and spoken word, to sculpture, textiles, painting, photography, collage, drawing and print.
All works will be displayed in a virtual exhibition between Oct 2025 – Feb 2026.
This display is included in the Permanent Collection or Permanent Collection + Exhibition ticket.
This display is the second to showcase the work of those taking part in The Courtauld’s Learning programmes since the gallery reopened in 2021.
The Courtauld’s Schools and Young People’s programmes seek to increase access to art and art history through cross-curricula learning. Each year we invite over 8,000 young people from all backgrounds to participate in and shape the field of art history, through an extensive programme of free talks, courses, workshops and events.
Live Project Brief
We invited young people from across the UK to explore Van Gogh’s famous Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and paintings by contemporary Rachel Jones to find their own moment of artistic inspiration.
Explore the Live Project Brief for students aged 14-18.
Discover the brief
