10 Art Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety

Zuzanna Stańska 19 March 2020 min Read

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Art can be many different things: a snobbery-builder; a boredom-killer. According to some studies, it may even extend your life. It can also simply make you feel better. Here are 10 art masterpieces to calm your anxiety.

We live in troubling times given the recent events from the past year. What we definitely should do now is to try to stay calm. Anxiety and panic won’t help anyone. Although, with the mass lockdowns it can be very difficult to stay calm. You can meditate, do yoga, cook. But, you can also contemplate art.

Here is a list of art masterpieces that can help you relax. Breath in, breath out, relax, focus, look at the painting and actually start to see it. Look at the details. Ask yourself questions: What do you see? What elements catch your eye first? Which colors? Do you see any patterns, any relations between the elements of the painting? What emotions do you feel while looking at this particular piece? Time is your friend here. Even if you don’t see or feel anything at the beginning give yourself time. Be patient. Try to unwind from and let yourself dive into the universe of the painting, even for seconds or minutes, if not for hours.

Art Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety:

1. Claude Monet, Meules

art relax Claude Monet, Meules, 1890/91, private collection. Courtesy of Sotheby's. — Claude Monet, *Meules,* 1890-1891, private collection. Sotheby’s.

Read more about Claude Monet’s Meules here.

2. Mark Rothko, Orange, Red, Yellow

art relax Mark Rothko, Orange, Red, Yellow, 1961, private collection. Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety — Mark Rothko, *Orange, Red, Yellow*, 1961, private collection. Artnet.

Read about Mark Rotkho’s mystical world of abstraction here.

3. Wassily Kandinsky, Sky Blue

art relax Wassily Kandinsky, Sky Blue, 1940, Centre Pompidou, Paris. — Wassily Kandinsky, *Sky Blue*, 1940, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.

Read about Kandinsky and spirituality in his art here.

4. Henri Rousseau, The Snake Charmer

art relax Henri Rousseau, The Snake Charmer, 1907, Musée d'Orsay. Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety — Henri Rousseau, *The Snake Charmer*, 1907, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.

Henri Rousseau might have never seen a real jungle, but it did not stop him from painting them. Read more about Rousseau’s jungles here.

5. Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night over the Rhône

art relax Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night Over the Rhône, 1888, Musée d'Orsay; Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety — Vincent van Gogh, *Starry Night Over the Rhône*, 1888, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.

We usually associate van Gogh’s works with his mental illness. Here you can read about his other painting also entitled The Starry Night.

6. Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, Capturing the Moment

art relax Joaquín Sorolla, Capturing the Moment, 1906, Museo Sorolla, Madrid — Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, *Capturing the Moment*, 1906, Museo Sorolla, Madrid, Spain.

You can read more about this painting here.

7. Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise over the Sea

art relax Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise over the Sea, 1822, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety — Caspar David Friedrich, *Moonrise over the Sea*, 1822, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, German.

Caspar David Friedrich was a master of disturbing Romanticism. Read more about him here.

8. Félix Vallotton, The Bath. Summer Evening

art relax Félix Vallotton, The Bath. Summer Evening, 1892/1893, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich; Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety — Félix Vallotton, *The Bath. Summer Evening*, 1892-1893, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.

Here you can read more about Félix Vallotton’s favourite technique: woodcuts.

9. Frederick Edwin Church, El Rio de Luz (The River of Light)

art relax Frederic Edwin Church, El Rio de Luz (The River of Light), 1877, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety — Frederic Edwin Church, *El Rio de Luz (The River of Light)*, 1877, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA.

Frederick Edwin Church was interested in optics, meteorology, botany, and ecology. Read more about it here.

10. Frederic Leighton, Flaming June

art relax Frederic Leighton, Flaming June, 1895 Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico; Masterpieces to Calm Your Anxiety — Frederic Leighton, *Flaming June*, 1895 Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Stunning, isn’t it? Read about this amazing painting and it’s story here.

That is our list of the masterpieces that may calm your anxiety. Do you have your own?

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