The School of Life Calm in 40 Images

Knowing how to be calm is one of life’s greatest skills, for even if we have every other possible advantage, so long as our mind is frantic, we will never taste the happiness we seek. The third title in the ‘40 Images’ series, Calm in 40 Images is a comprehensive guide to the art of calm. Featuring the work of photographers and artists including Hiroshi Sugimoto, Gustav Klimt, Gwen John, Johannes Vermeer and Edward Hopper, alongside essays to invite contemplation, it takes us systematically through the many things that unsettle us and arrives at a range of solutions to ease our spirits. Gustav Klimt’s Pear Tree (1903) reminds us that we do not need a life of fame or melodramatic relationships, and we should instead make our peace with so-called ordinariness. Mark Salamon’s photograph, The Rays (2020), accompanies a guided anxiety-reducing exercise that we can partake in when the noise of the day has subsided. We are invited not just to understand calm but to appreciate it with our eyes and discover it with our senses.