Scientists Say Real Art Can Cut Stress Hormones By 22%

Stress drops when you face real art. Maybe the cure was hanging on the wall all along.

ART News

11 Nov 2025 — 2 min read

Art’s quiet power: when you stop long enough, the painting starts to breathe back. Photo by Feodor Chistyakov / Unsplash

Scroll. Swipe. React. Repeat. Our lives hum with mechanical motion, but the soul doesn’t. Somewhere between a ping and a post, we stopped looking — really looking. And now, a quiet rebellion begins inside the museum walls.

Studies out of London say it’s not just poetic talk: standing before real paintings drops stress hormones by 22%. Not replicas, not pixels — paint, light, and time. The body knows the difference.

Artists have always whispered this truth. Marina Abramović once said, “Doing nothing is the start of the something.” Ali Smith calls art “an awakening.” And Laurie Anderson reminds us that freedom might be as simple as “whatever makes you feel good.”

To live artfully isn’t about galleries or talent. It’s about reclaiming attention — the most expensive currency left. Look longer. Ask the stranger next to you what they see. Let silence rearrange your thoughts.

Art won’t fix your inbox or heal your feed. But it can steady your pulse. In a world tuned for speed, stillness is starting to sound radical again.

The New Vanguard: How the University of Arkansas Is Rewriting the Rules of Art History

The University of Arkansas’s tuition-free MA in Art History, fueled by museums and open borders of creativity, is quietly redefining how the next generation studies — and shapes — American art.

Gleaming 18-karat gold toilet in a stark white gallery, its curved surfaces reflecting spotlights like liquid metal.

The $10 Million Throne: Cattelan’s “America” Tests What We’ll Pay To Flush

Maurizio Cattelan’s “America” heads to Sotheby’s with a starting bid pegged to the price of gold — a flushable referendum on value.

The heart of Venice’s Biennale beats on — but America’s place in it hangs in the balance

America Without a Pavilion: When Bureaucracy Chokes the Art

The United States was supposed to land in Venice with an eagle — instead, it’s showing up with silence.

Art classroom with brushes, paints, and unfinished student work — symbolizing the revival of creative subjects in UK schools.

Britain’s Schools Bring Back the Arts: Why Scrapping the Ebacc Could Spark a Creative Revival

After years of decline in arts education, the UK’s move to scrap the Ebacc marks a turning point. Teachers and artists call it a long-overdue revival — but without funding, can creativity truly return to every classroom?