IIn an era characterized by burnout and doom, hanging on the gallery wall is a therapeutic alternative. When volunteers at London's Courtauld Gallery appeared before Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear, Manet's Bar at the Folies Bergere and Gauguin's Te Rerioatheir levels of stress and inflammation decreased compared to those of volunteers who viewed the reproductions. Science suggests that original art is medicine to be looked at, not swallowed.
It is well known that art can lift your spirits. But the fact that it calms the body is something new. King's College London Study asked participants to look at 19th-century Post-Impressionist masterpieces – Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet and Gauguin – while strapped to sensors. Half the group saw the originals in the gallery, half saw copies in the laboratory. results were clear: visiting art galleries has health benefits: it relieves stress and reduces the risk of heart disease, and strengthens the immune system.
There is growing evidence to support this view. Earlier this summer, a team of Cambridge psychologists conducted a study. similar project at Kettle's Yard Gallery to show how an appreciation of artistic beauty helps us avoid the “mental traps of everyday life.” These experiments follow research published last year by the Department for Culture, Media and Sportquantify the improvements in physical and mental health from participation in creative activities, as well as the economic benefits estimated at average £1000 per person per yearresulting in increased productivity and fewer trips to the GP. Nature Magazine review Modern science suggests that the arts can play a role in public health, especially in the prevention of chronic diseases. And for the first time in its 202-year history, The Lancet recently published a photo essay showing how art can improve lives.
“When you experience a work of art, you don’t just see it, you feel it,” writes art historian Katie Hessel in her new book. How to live an artful life. “The best thing we can do is take the time to do it.” Of course, time is something we lack in today's crazy world. But this seems to be the key to the therapeutic power of art. Galleries are quiet, contemplative places. We stop scrolling and start looking closely. Deep familiarity with a work of art induces “psychological distancing”—seeing the bigger picture. As Iris Murdoch wrote: “Great art is liberating, it allows us to see and enjoy what is not us.”
When creativity is handed over to AI, galleries bring us face to face with human genius. When we notice the intensity of the brushstrokes in Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear, we feel the pain behind them. As Auden reminds us in Museum of Fine ArtsGreat paintings teach us about human suffering and our everyday indifference to it.
We are told to exercise and eat healthy; Will doctors soon be prescribing a visit to a local gallery or museum? Against the backdrop of falling visitor numbers and the financial crisis, these studies provide further incentive to increase investment in the creative sector. The government has committed £270 million financing package support for England's “crumbling cultural infrastructure” earlier this year was welcomed. But more needs to be done to ensure everyone has access to what the King's College research team called “cultural bodywork.” The arts are vital not only to a country's economy, but also to its health. You can't argue with science.
