Want to Feel Better? Go Look at Some Art
What psychology says about museums, Monet, and mental health
My children all attended a small elementary school in Amherst, Massachusetts, which was special for many reasons. But one of the very best parts of this school was a fabulous art teacher. Ms. Magner talked about different styles of art, showed them pictures of famous (and not-so-famous) paintings, and encouraged them to create their own “masterpieces.”
This early introduction to the beauty and power of art fostered a lasting interest for my three children (who are now all in their 20s). I still remember visiting New York City when my kids were pre-teens and teenagers and asking if they’d rather spend the afternoon in Central Park or visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art - and being pleasantly surprised with their answer. Some of my fondest memories on family vacations over the years have been visiting art museums - the Prado in Madrid, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.
But what I find particularly interesting as a nerdy psychology professor is that visiting art museums is good for psychological and physical well-being.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center reviewed empirical studies on the mental health benefits of visiting museums - and in particular art museums. Their findings revealed that visiting art museums helped reduce anxiety and depression as well as stress. Perhaps most interestingly, visiting art museums also led to reductions in loneliness, which is especially important given the well-established link between loneliness and negative health outcomes.
What explains these substantial benefits? To answer this question, researchers in another study examined physiological data from people who visited the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, which features paintings by Manet, Van Gogh, and Gauguin. Museum visitors wore small sensors on their bodies measuring heart rates and skin temperatures. They also provided saliva samples so that researchers could test levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. The researchers then compared this physiological data from other people who saw reproductions of these same paintings.
Although seeing art in general led to decreases in stress, the benefits were much greater for people who saw the original art than the reproductions. Cortisol levels fell 22% for those in the gallery compared to only 8% for those looking at the reproductions. Levels of proteins linked with increased risk of various diseases also fell substantially for those visiting the art gallery, but showed no changes for those who only saw reproductions.
These findings suggest that visiting an art museum is a great strategy not only for reducing stress but also for boosting the immune system.
Now, an important limitation of the studies I’ve described so far is that not all people are able to easily - or regularly - visit an art museum, and in turn experience these benefits. But the results from at least one study suggest that viewing art on-line can also be good for well-being.
Researchers in this study asked people to rate their overall mood and anxiety, and then to look at an image of Monet’s Water Lilies on line for a few minutes. The study participants then completed the same mood and anxiety measures a second time. As predicted, spending just a few minutes looking at a painting on a computer screen led to significant improvements in both mood and anxiety.
These findings all point to a relatively simple strategy we all can use to feel better: look at some art, either in person or on-line! This strategy seems especially valuable during this extremely cold winter in which some other mood-boosting strategies - like spending time outside - seem less appealing!
Now a few questions for you: When was the last time you visited an art museum? What’s your favorite art museum - or painting? Please share in the comments!
In the decades since majoring in Art in college, I've been lucky enough to visit dozens of art museums across the country and around the world and can personally attest to their general uplifting effect on my spirits. Exhibit A might be Monet's immersive waterlily cycles at Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris, the usual crowds notwithstanding. (Nature imagery, of course, tends to be inherently soothing.) That said, I'd have to wonder whether the same research results would obtain if the stimulus happened to be the works of, say, a Francis Bacon. Surely the subject matter and treatment must have some bearing . . . or not?
Susan Hindle
As a senior senior, I want to comment that no matter how many times I see the same art pieces that I especially like, I find new elements that I never saw before, and have new reflections and questions. There's always a new surprise, expanding discovery and feeling of more space and freedom when I move out of my daily routine and visit a museums, exhibition or temporary local art collection. Age does not automatically lesson ones joy and appreciation.