Art Raises Blood Pressure

Works of art meant to hearten patients at a cardiac hospital have been removed after complaints they made people feel tense and increased their blood pressure, a doctor said yesterday. "The idea was to try to brighten up the place and make it alive," said Robert Roberts, head of the Ottawa Heart Institute. "But our choice of austere paintings instead increased our patients' blood pressure slightly.... The paintings made people feel tense and nurses noticed patients were more agitated." The experiment included five portraits by Shirley Brown called The Queens. Their "very piercing eyes were not necessarily the most pleasant thing to look at or cheer you up when you're in pain," Dr. Roberts said. Irish Art