‘To me, a Van Gogh painting is the epitome of how to use colour, texture and a sense of self to create an image.’ Rachel Jones. For acclaimed contemporary artist Rachel Jones, looking at artwork by Vincent Van Gogh was her ‘first example of feeling inspired to be an artist’.
Students from across the UK were invited to explore Van Gogh’s famous Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and artworks by contemporary Rachel Jones to find their own moment of artistic inspiration.
Using art historical approaches, students were asked to look closely at Van Gogh’s self-portrait and Jones’ artwork, thinking about the use of colour, mark-making, taking inspiration from Art History, and sensory exploration to understand how we might create our own ‘sense of self’ through artwork.
Whether you are an artist, writer, performer, designer, musician or historian students were asked to engage and respond to Van Gogh’s Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Selected artwork went on displayed in the Project Space at the Courtauld Gallery and online between Oct 2025 – Feb 2026.
Creating a response
A response is not a copy of the original artwork but a completely new interpretation. We are looking for a personal response that interrogates any aspect of Van Gogh’s famous Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and comments on contemporary issues you are passionate about.
You might choose to focus on:
Self Portraits: How do people present themselves? How might self-portraits differ from reality?
Mark Making: What is Van Gogh’s mark-making technique? How is it similar or different to Rachel Jones? Can you devise an artwork using similar techniques?
Colour and Emotion: What emotion do you feel towards different colours? Do different colours make you feel different ways?
Teachers and education leads
Would you like to run a Sense of Self project in your classroom?
We are still offering Sense of Self workshops. We have a fantastic team of artists and art historians who are able to launch the brief to your students. Sessions can be delivered online, at the gallery, or in-school/college.
We have a number of opportunities for schools/colleges to work with us on the live brief for a series of sessions. To book a session please e-mail: learning@courtauld.ac.uk
