I know it’s as dreary as winter drizzle to gripe about inclement weather and the unending darkness of UK winters, but it is also true that winter can do a number on our wellbeing – seasonal affective disorder affects some 2 million Britons, after all.
Luckily, I have a remedy, a prescription for the soul – visiting art galleries. It often costs nothing but time (see: the Tate galleries, whose main collections are completely free), and is available to everyone. Communing with art is a year-round life enhancer and an antidote to loneliness, sadness, frustration and stress, but, in my experience, the soothing properties of public art galleries are best experienced during winter. In these months, walking from the grey-sky gloom into a dazzlingly light and airy space full of treasures, colour and history is a salve for my spirit – an instant hit of hope, the happiest of distractions.
