Museum art

Art museum lighting represents a delicate balance between visibility and safe lighting levels. Lighting levels must directly correspond to the type of art being exhibited in order to properly showcase fine art. Natural light is generally not recommended as a source of art museum lighting. It contains harmful infrared heat and ultraviolet light waves that will damage a wide variety of paint types and canvases. Natural light is also very difficult to control.

A much better solution lies with using fixtures specifically designed for art museum picture lighting exhibitions. Almost all such fixture types offer a measure of protection against harmful light wavelengths and the ability to adjust luminance levels appropriate to interior architecture, exhibit requirements, and artistic genre at hand.

The following examines a few of the main benefits each type or fine art museum lighting fixture offers. Keep in mind that larger museums typically approach lighting design on a room-by-room basis and use more than one of these fixture types to create a custom, in-house system of specialized illumination.

Accent Lights

Most accent lights in art museums contain halogen lamps that have been specifically designed for the purposes of art lighting. Ultraviolet light has to be stripped from the light beam in order to make the light safe for the art. Also, some sort of adjustment mechanism must be in place in order to regulate levels of illumination. This is because each genre of art normally communicates its own unique set of values and contains its own unique messages, and light is critical to visually communicating these points of uniqueness.

Some accent lights resemble over the picture lights, although the base often attaches to the wall above the frame, and the arms are longer and more flexible than generic equivalents. This allows the lamp to be positioned at just the right distance from the picture in order to make the light fit the frame.

Accent lighting in art galleries and museums is also done with filtered spotlights that reside on or near the ceiling. These fixtures are often low voltage and create a less intense luminance that is highly effective for special effects or ambient lighting. This type of accent lighting is particularly effective in art museums featuring sculpture and three-dimensional abstract art. By supplementing primary lighting with ambient effects, art museum curators can avoid the “flattening” effect that too much direct light can have on a human figure or abstract piece.

Track Lights

Track lights hang suspended from rails that run parallel to the wall. Although they are visually obtrusive in the sense that they are clearly visible to the public, many art museums illuminate a variety of works with track lighting systems.

The greatest advantage that track lighting installations offer is the ability to match the number of lighting fixtures to the exact number of works of art. Because the fixtures can move along the rail, each track light can be aimed precisely at its chosen object for pinpoint lighting effect. We often see track lighting in art museums showcasing photography exhibits. Because such exhibits normally feature a number of works in a series, track lights allow for each photograph to be placed in its own individual light.