Viewing Art Can Boost Mental Wellbeing and Bring Meaning to Life, Research Finds
Engaging with visual art, whether in a gallery, hospital, or from the comfort of one’s home, can significantly enhance mental wellbeing and foster a deeper sense of purpose, according to a major new review. Conducted by psychologists from the University of Vienna, Trinity College Dublin, and Humboldt University of Berlin, the study synthesised decades of research and found that art viewing improves what is known as eudaimonic wellbeing: a feeling of meaning, self-development, and inner fulfilment.
Published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, the study reviewed 38 previous publications involving a total of 6,805 participants. It is the first comprehensive analysis to bring together decades of research on when, where, and why art viewing has been used to promote wellbeing. The review included artworks such as The Scream by Edvard Munch, The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, and a wide range of figurative, abstract, modern and contemporary art, sculpture, photography, and installations.
The authors found that improvements in wellbeing were consistently observed not only in traditional settings like museums and galleries, but also in clinical environments such as hospitals, as well as through virtual reality. These findings suggest that art can be a valuable and accessible resource for supporting mental health.
“People often think of art as a luxury, but our research suggest that viewing art—whether as a hobby or as a targeted health intervention—can meaningfully support wellbeing,” said MacKenzie Trupp, lead author and researcher at the University of Vienna and Radboud UMC, Donders Institute. “By reframing art as a low-cost, accessible wellbeing resource, this research opens up exciting possibilities for integrating art into everyday environments and public health strategies.”
Claire Howlin, Assistant Professor at Trinity’s School of Psychology, added: “While the mental health benefits of creating art have been widely explored, the impact of viewing art has been under-researched and undervalued. Yet visual art is present and accessible in everyday spaces—museums, galleries, hospitals, and at home. Understanding its effects can unlock new avenues for promoting wellbeing through everyday encounters with art.”
“Since 2019 the WHO has recommended that creative approaches are used alongside routine clinical care. Art can satisfy people’s need to search for meaning in life, build self-esteem, and develop positive identities which are important factors for coping with the chaos of life. Departments of health and arts councils across Europe are looking for high quality evidence to identify which types of arts can be used for each type of medical outcome. This review will help to plan larger scale studies in the future.”
The study also identified methodological inconsistencies across prior research, prompting the creation of a new set of guidelines — the Receptive Art Activity Research Reporting Guidelines (RAARR)—to improve standardisation in future studies.
This research was funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 ART*IS project. The full paper, The impact of viewing art on well-being—a systematic review of the evidence base and suggested mechanisms, is available in The Journal of Positive Psychology: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2025.2481041
