
Vincent van Gogh: The Final Years – GI 25 105
27 September 2025 @ 10:00 am - 1:00 pm BST
Tutor: Ronnie Ireland D.A. (Drawing and Painting; Glasgow School of Art) B.A. (Hons) Open University
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The archetypal, misunderstood, solitary artist, Vincent van Gogh dies barely acknowledged. However, after his death his legend took root. Now van Gogh’s works are among some of the best known and most valuable in the world. Can we dig through the layers of mystique and sentimentality to see his work as he saw it and perhaps find what it means to us now?
This lecture is part of Guildford Festival of the Arts, 25 – 28 September 2025.
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Vincent van Gogh, Bedroom in Arles (first version), 1888, oil on canvas, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Image: Google Arts & Culture Project.
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About the Speaker
Ronnie Ireland
Ronnie’s life has always revolved around art and music. He has drawn and painted all his life and made music (mainly singing; from opera through to rock and jazz) during much of it.
He was born and educated in Glasgow, then moved to Edinburgh where he taught art and ran a company, organising and playing music. Ronnie moved to the south of England in 2011, realising he needed a fresh start and new challenges in a new place.
The regular art classes which Ronnie now runs are very important to him. They aim to encourage artists to develop their own ideas and voice, and he finds it exciting and gratifying working with the artists as they progress. He feels it is the most difficult, but also the most rewarding part of art. Ronnie also gives regular talks, demonstrations and workshops on many aspects of art and creativity to art societies, educational institutions and the corporate world.
His own art centres around the idea of identity and how it manifests in many different ways from the theatrical to the everyday.
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