The last thing most of us look at before sleep is a bright screen full of other people's lives. Then we wonder why our thoughts keep racing in the dark.
What if your last image of the day were a painting instead? Something soft, still and slow, that lets your mind wind down rather than speed up. Here are five to try. Look at one for a few minutes before you turn off the light, on a screen dimmed low, or better, as a postcard by your bed.
1. Berthe Morisot, The Cradle (1872, Musée d'Orsay)
A young mother watches her baby sleep behind a veil of white muslin. Morisot painted her sister Edma with Edma's daughter. Everything in it is soft: the light, the fabric, the gaze. It's a painting about watching over someone, and letting yourself be watched over.
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2. James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Chelsea (1871, Tate Britain)
The Thames at dusk, almost dissolved into blue. A few lights on the far bank, a small figure on the shore. Whistler borrowed the word "nocturne" from music, and you can almost hear it: a slow, quiet piece for the end of the day.
3. Vilhelm Hammershøi, Interior in Strandgade, Sunlight on the Floor (1901, SMK, Copenhagen)
An almost empty room in grey and white. A woman seen from behind, a patch of sunlight on the floorboards. Hammershøi painted silence better than almost anyone. Nothing asks for your attention, so your attention finally rests.
4. Claude Monet, Water Lilies (Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris)
Monet's great water lily panels at the Orangerie surround you in two oval rooms. He offered them to France after the First World War and imagined them as a refuge for peaceful contemplation. Choose one small section and let your eyes drift on the water.
5. Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise over the Sea (1822, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin)
Three figures sit on the rocks by the shore, watching the moon rise and the ships come home. We only see their backs. We're invited to sit with them, and wait for the night together.
How to look before sleep
Dim your screen as low as it will go, or print your favorite as a postcard. Look for three minutes. Find the darkest part of the painting, then the lightest. Then close your eyes and see it again. Let it be the last image of your day.
A quiet piece for your bedroom
If you'd like something calming within reach every night, my print Blue Toile n.1 is a fragment of a modernized toile de Jouy pattern, in blue, the kind of image that's easy to rest your eyes on. Each print is hand-finished, signed, and comes with a meditation letter for your evenings.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi