Sense of Self

i Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889, oil on canvas, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld.

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 the 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.

Sense of Self

26 Sep - 17 Sep 2025

22 Oct 2025 - 22 Feb 2026

The Courtauld Gallery  The Project Space 

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-curricular 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.

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Sense of Self: Live Project Brief

Sense of Self: Live Project Brief is a live brief for educational groups inviting them to explore Van Gogh’s famous Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and artwork by contemporary Rachel Jones to find their own moment of artistic inspiration.

Citations