Get Good Lighting For Museums

LED lighting is an excellent choice for art galleries and museums because it provides superior color rendering index (CRI) compared to other light sources. The high CRI of LED art lighting ensures that colors are accurately illuminated and that art pieces are represented as intended by the artist.

Lighting with a warm white color temperature (3000K) is our recommendation and is used in the vast majority of art galleries. A 3000K warm white temperature creates a relaxed and inviting atmosphere for visitors. It's also easier to create a CRI value of 95 with a warm white light.

ing to lighting experts, paintings in the art galleries should be illuminated by a single light source, preferably with a spotlight. They should be typically placed at an angle of 30 degrees as it eliminates the risk of glares and long shadows casted by the frames.

Incandescent lamps are generally used for ambient and accent lighting with track luminaires. In museums, incandescent, fiber optic and HID are the most common light sources.

A good picture light will have a high CRI 2700K colour temperature (It can be 3000k in museums and galleries but in the home I prefer the warmer colour temperature). 2 Another solution that may be simpler in the more contemporary interior is a recessed directional spotlight. Again there are rules for their selection.

Spotlights and regular floods tightly focused on the art will do nearly all the work lighting the room, and warmer color temperatures tend to look better. If there is not enough light bounce from these spots to make the room navigable, dim wide floods can be used to bring up walls and floors to balance out the room.

Traditional lamps, even with protective filters, can damage exhibits in museums very quickly. LED technology however, does not create IR and UV light and is therefore ideal for sensitive environments such as galleries and museums.

Halogen lamps are often used because of their crisp white light, a vital attribute to museums and galleries. However, these lights have a heavy energy cost in the form of heat.