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- Written by Dr. Lori Verderame Dr. Lori Verderame
Rembrandt van Rijn’s paintings are famous for their luminosity. When considering works by the Dutch master in major international museums, you might agree with most people who think a Rembrandt painting looks pretty good in any light! I agree with that statement.
For art lovers, it is important to remember there are certain methods to properly light your masterpiece. While Rembrandt’s paintings seemingly glow of their own accord, various light sources are employed when masterpieces are installed in museums.
The methods used by museum professionals and exhibition-design experts regarding how to light works of art may help you to properly and safely light a work of art in your home.
In short, lighting a work of fine art is both critical and complex. Lighting is critical to the overall preservation of the work of art, and it is complex when you try to get it right.
With fine art, even the slightest difference in the direction of the light source and the type of light selected (e.g., fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, led, natural, etc.) can make all the difference in the world.
Like anything else, art lighting is all about compromise.
The basics for lighting artwork in your home include: use low-watt bulbs, don’t display art in direct sunlight, and don’t keep fragile works on display in highly lit areas for long periods of time.
Natural Beauty
Most people think that natural light is the best light in which to display a work of art.
Most artists are trained in art schools flooded with natural light, and many artists prefer to paint works directly from nature in the outdoors or en plein aire where sunlight is abundant, but sunlight is not the best lighting option for your collection.
Sunlight or natural light is difficult to control. Exposing your work of art to sunlight may cause deterioration problems for artwork, particularly paintings, photographs, prints, watercolors, pastels, and other works on paper.
The ultraviolet (UV) rays from natural sunlight can damage works of art over time. For instance, UV rays are so harmful that they can fade works on paper. Fading of artwork from light exposure, including both direct and indirect sunlight, may occur in as short a time span as three months.
Also, with many home-design schemes looking to mixed-media works of art for display, such as textiles serving as dramatic wall decorations, remember that these items will fade in sunlight too.
That means it’s not a good idea to hang your great-grandma’s colorful quilt or vintage craft pieces, like embroidery or needlepoint pictures, on the prominent wall of your sunny family room that faces a big picture window.
Any source of light may cause fading and damage to works, from oil paintings to historic maps.
Light Bright
While advanced technology and a litany of new products are continuously coming to market, the big three in art lighting remain incandescent, fluorescent, and halogen.
What happens to the look of a work of art when selecting a particular lighting type? Incandescent light brings out the warmer colors of the color spectrum, such as reds, oranges, and yellows.
But if you have a seascape composed of predominantly blues and greens, then an incandescent light won’t highlight all of those cool colors. In fact, the blues, greens, and violets of your artwork may appear flat under incandescent lights.
These lights are better than direct natural light or fluorescent lights that may not emit light across the entire color spectrum, but incandescent lights don’t provide the easy answer to the general art-lighting problem.
Protect Grandpa
You should know that the old-fashioned portrait light that you may have attached to the top of a framed painting of your great-grandpa is very harmful.
That little light source, depending on the bulb, may be emitting intense light and heat onto your oil portrait, which will damage and devalue the work of art quickly.
Light your artwork properly, and your collection will repay you with years of enjoyment.
Dr. Lori Verderame is the award-winning Ph.D. antiques appraiser on History channel’s The Curse of Oak Island. Visit drloriv.com and youtube.com/drloriv or call (888) 431-1010.