Why do landscape subjects make us feel good? 1e635l

Key Points  5c3w38

• Green soothes the mind and body: Viewing nature — even in a painting — helps reduce stress and promotes mental well-being.
  
  
• A primal connection: Nature is where we come from, our origin and our refuge. Landscapes evoke a sense of "coming home."
  
  
• Landscape as a mirror of the soul: Since the Renaissance (e.g., Leonardo), nature in art has been used to express inner emotions and mystery.
  
  
• From background to main subject: With Romanticism and Impressionism, the landscape is no longer just a backdrop — it becomes the true protagonist.
  
  
• A visual refuge in modern life: In an era of concrete and screens, painted landscapes offer a space for breathing and contemplation.
  
  
• Art as visual oxygen: Green landscapes in art remind us of what we are losing — and invite us to reconnect with nature.
  
  
• Contemplating green is therapeutic: Looking at nature-themed artworks slows our thoughts, eases anxiety, and provides a regenerative pause.

Why do we like looking at green? 2b4m

Why does a meadow, a forest, or even just the rustling of leaves in the wind bring us peace?
What is it about nature that soothes our senses, relaxes our gaze, and helps us breathe better — even just through an image?

The answer is not only scientific — even though we now know that green helps reduce stress and stimulates mental well-being — but also deeply emotional and visual.
Nature is where we come from, our origin and our refuge. And perhaps this is why, in art, landscapes have always spoken directly to the heart, even when they appear only as a background detail.

Take Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Everyone focuses on her enigmatic smile, but what lies behind her?
A mysterious landscape made of winding valleys, rocks, rivers, bridges, and tortuous paths.
That unreal, almost dreamlike nature is not just a background: it is a reflection of the human soul, a projection of inner mystery.
Leonardo was among the first to understand that nature could play an emotional, almost psychological role in art.

In the centuries that followed, landscape gained more and more prominence. With Romanticism and Impressionism, it finally became the protagonist.
A central figure was no longer needed: it was light, water, and sky that told the story.

And today, what is the value of looking at green in a painting? 545570

In a time when we live surrounded by concrete walls and glowing screens, real green is becoming increasingly rare. We no longer see it from our windows; sometimes we don’t even step on grass for days.
And yet, perhaps for that very reason, when we see it in a painting, we stop. Why?

Perhaps because, just by looking at it, the landscape offers us a refuge. Not only from the city, but from frenzy, from anxiety, from disconnection.
In an era when nature is threatened by climate change and our own lifestyle, iconic works of art — like a meadow by Monet, a field by Van Gogh, or a dreamlike landscape by Leonardo — become more than simple images: they are visual oxygen.

Today, landscape painting holds an undeniable added value.
On one hand, it comforts us, helping us escape the grey and noisy routine. On the other, it questions us:
Where has all this green gone in your life? Can you still recognize it, desire it, protect it?

Perhaps we love looking at green simply because we need it.
Because it reminds us of a slower, more human, more intimate time.
Because it gives us the feeling of coming home — even if only with our eyes.

Rincón del jardín III (2021) Painting by Juan José Molina Gallardo

Visual therapy: contemplating green in art 37m66

Let’s move from theory to practice, with five artworks currently available on ArtMajeur by YourArt, where green will guide you on a visual, meditative journey — deeply relaxing and contemplative in spirit.

So, stop.
Breathe.
Let your gaze soften, let your thoughts slow down.
There’s no rush, no noise. Only color, light, breath — and the essential hues of meadows and gardens.

1. Rincón del jardín III by Juan José Molina Gallardo 6b5k30

In this painting, we find ourselves in a hidden, almost secret corner of a flourishing garden. The vegetation is dense, alive, and sensual: green dominates in a multitude of deep, vibrant shades, broken only by soft pink flowers, like whispers. Water seems to filter through the branches, as if light were raining down. The large leaves in the foreground — perhaps monstera — rise in all their tropical majesty, inviting the eye to pause, breathe, and linger.

Juan José Molina Gallardo is a Spanish painter who works with dedication on thematic series. His artistic research is rooted in slow observation and patient study of nature, time, and light. The series Un año en el jardín is a poetic vegetal diary, born of the desire to capture on canvas everything that is born, grows, and fades in a garden.

Relax: sit by a window, let natural light in, sip some jasmine tea, and look at this artwork as if you were walking among its leaves. Let yourself be caressed by the foliage. Forget time.

Saône et saules (2024) Painting by Thierry Gautheron

2. Saône et saules by Thierry Gautheron 3l16t

The banks of the Saône open up into a luminous, peaceful scene, where footprints in the damp grass lead the eye to a group of trees gently leaning over the water. The knife-painted strokes create a movement that feels almost musical, as the green merges with the silvery reflections of the river and the glimmers of air.

Thierry Gautheron, a painter from Burgundy, is deeply connected to his homeland. His landscapes are journeys into light, into the subtle hues of vineyards, into the slow rhythm of the surrounding nature. Influenced by plein air painting and the spontaneous beauty of the rural world, Gautheron offers a vision of nature as a mental refuge and a space of serene joy.

Relax: lean back into your chair, choose some slow instrumental music — perhaps with the sound of water or wind — and let the green carry you along the riverbank, free of thoughts.

Garden (2022) Painting by Sergej Pisarenko

3. Garden by Sergej Pisarenko 6w4q5b

There is something dreamlike and suspended in this "garden." The trees intertwine in a delicate mist that doesn’t obscure — it caresses. The atmosphere is humid and green, like a place of memory. Perhaps it’s a childhood dream, or a mental refuge where time does not exist.

Sergej Pisarenko is a Belarusian artist whose work revolves around the idea of the “inner home.” For him, painting is a silent hunt, a quest for the ideal place where the spirit can dwell. Art is not an imitation of reality, but the creation of an emotional space where each viewer can find their own truth.

Relax: light a scented candle, sit in silence, and let this artwork transport you somewhere else. There’s nothing to understand — just feel.

4. Kodama by Clotilde Maillard 4v6348

A tree bends in a plastic and harmonious gesture, as if dancing in the silence of a sacred forest. The atmosphere is almost spiritual, inhabited by invisible presences: the kodama, benevolent spirits from Japanese mythology, seem to dwell in every leaf, every branch, every shadow. The composition has something both theatrical and meditative, with strong contrasts between light and darkness.

Clotilde Maillard, a French artist with a classical education and a contemporary spirit, is known for her technical versatility and the sensitivity with which she transforms environment into symbol. In her works, the landscape is never just a background: it is always a narrative. Kodama is a tribute to the invisible life that inhabits nature.

Relax: sit with your back straight, inhale slowly, and imagine yourself in a forest. Let the spirits of nature protect you — if only for a moment.

Prairie (2024) Painting by Frederic Wioland

5. Prairie by Frédéric Wioland 1ir14

Soft lines, silent hills, trees like thoughts gently placed on the landscape. This work is a gentle symphony of greens and blues, where nothing is forced — everything flows simply and naturally. The contrast between light and shadow creates a soft depth, like a daydream.

Frédéric Wioland is a French painter who graduated from the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts, and has devoted his career to the art of landscape painting. In his work, nature becomes a mental and contemplative space, an invitation to inner silence. Prairie doesn’t shout, doesn’t astonish: it welcomes.

Relax: choose a comfortable armchair, hold a warm herbal tea in your hands, look at this painting and imagine the wind blowing gently through the leaves. That’s all you need, right now.

Close your eyes. Breathe again.
Whether it’s a secret garden, a quiet riverbank, a sacred forest, or a luminous meadow, the art of green landscapes brings us home. Within ourselves.
It reminds us that even in the image, even in distance, we can find connection again.
With nature. With slow time. With the most alive and human part of ourselves.

Let green through you.

Discover the green landscapes selection

FAQ  4kk5j

1. Why does looking at green relax us?
 Green has proven neurophysiological benefits: it lowers blood pressure, reduces anxiety, and boosts serotonin. It also triggers memories of safe, life-sustaining environments from our evolutionary past.

2. Has landscape always been important in art?
 Not always. It was often a background element. Leonardo was among the first to recognize its emotional power, but only with Romanticism and Impressionism did it become the central subject.

3. Can a painting really have a relaxing effect?
 Yes. Even just the image of a landscape can produce calming effects: it slows thinking, stimulates sensory memory, and brings a sense of peace.

4. Why do we need landscapes in art now more than ever?
 Because we live in artificial, fast-paced environments. Landscape art provides mental space for silence, slowness, and reconnection with lost nature.

5. What does a painted landscape tell us?

 It asks: where has all the green gone in your life? Can you still see it, long for it, protect it? It’s not just an aesthetic question — it’s also ethical and existential.