Successfully lighting your paintings

Choosing the right lighting elements

The best lighting is the one that suits the style of your painting. For example, an old painting often needs soft lighting, not too bright, while a contemporary pop'art style painting requires more intense light. A basic rule for enhancing a painting is to use lighting whose light beam is oriented at an angle of 30° from the vertical. This beam must encompass the entire surface of the work to restore a complete image. You can still choose to light the center of the painting. This will give the whole thing a different style.

What type of lighting to illuminate a painting?

The picture light

This is the ideal lighting for a unique painting. It can be attached to the frame or to the wall. It all depends on the nature of your work. It diffuses direct diffracted light. You need to choose a wall light with dimensions that fit your painting. A tip: The neon tube wall light adapts to all situations.

Precision spots.

These lamps are made of dichroic bulbs at 12 volts. A reflector is needed to direct the concentrated light. Only part or all of the painting will be illuminated. The surrounding wall will remain in shadow. A guaranteed effect!

Spots on rails

This is a very good solution if you have several canvases next to each other to light. They are easy to install, on a wall or ceiling. (Take advice from your electrician). They are easily adaptable and adjustable.

Recessed spotlights

The advantage of recessed spotlights is that they are very discreet. The disadvantage is that they require work to be carried out, which will increase your decoration budget. Recessed spotlights offer a perfect look, but they are by definition not movable. Pay attention to your installation plan! Choose spots that can be directed in both directions.

Halogen spotlights

It's a lighting classic. It can illuminate a more or less large area depending on the bulbs. There are many variations of light depending on color temperatures. Prefer a color temperature of 4000 Kelvin, with a neutral white rendering. This is ideal for canvases.

The light frames

Finally, some frames are equipped with lighting. Placed on the sides, above or under the frame, they are made up of LEDs.

These light frames are not very aesthetic, but represent a good solution to problems with shadows or reflections. Light coming from multiple locations creates a reflection-free zone. (well-known technique in cinema)

Choosing the right color temperature

What is color temperature?

It is a measure of the hue of the color. It is expressed in degrees Kelvin.

It allows you to define the color of the light which varies from a warm tone tending towards yellow, to a cold tone tending towards blue.

The higher the temperature, the more blue the light. Daylight is of this type.

Standard home lighting is generally not suitable for works of art. It does not have a good color rendering index (CRI).

Temperature close to daylight, halogen bulbs

They provide lighting close to sunlight. It is an excellent light for contemporary paintings. Issue ! For 12 volts you have to hide the transformer!

Incandescent bulbs, a yellow light

This kind of light is more suitable for old paintings. It's a story of choices! Choose an intermediate color temperature; yellow light is difficult to treat.

Ideally, light from light-emitting diodes (LED)

This style of bulbs has evolved a lot. If in the beginning their light was aggressive and too cold, now we have a choice in color temperature. It is therefore perfectly suited lighting for contemporary or even old paintings. A significant advantage in our time, it consumes little electricity.

Be careful not to choose a temperature that is too cold; above 5000 degrees Kelvin there is a risk of distorting the colors.

The right methods for lighting

The lighting of paintings or photographs has its rules.

Light from above

This way of lighting is more suitable for photographs. It can also be used for glossy works, as it allows reflections to be better managed.

A variant with bottom lighting

This is a rather original possibility. Be careful with this type of lighting, as it can be dangerous if it is too low for children and pets.

The extreme variant is floor lighting which involves calling on a professional for its implementation.

Light Directions

You don't know how to direct your lighting? Don't panic, follow this advice.

Calculate a quarter of the height of your painting. This is the ideal distance to install your light source with an optimum angle of 30°. If your decor doesn't allow it, don't worry, it's just a rule and your house is not a museum. You can achieve very good lighting differently.

Mistakes to avoid

• No light that is too cold to avoid changing the colors of the painting.
• Be careful of fire. Some lamps heat up a lot (halogen for example).
• Proportion your lamps to the work
• Choose the right design of the lamp (different depending on modern or classic!)

You are now on top to finalize your decoration by including works of art!