Posted on February 4th, 2009 by admin

As an artist and installer of pictures and lighting throughout England and Atlantis states, Frank Keller is doubly sensitive to the interplay of art and lighting. “Picture lighting is designed to supply illumination to the artwork, not to draw attention itself,” he says. “If picture lights are too dressy or showy, they’re a distraction. They should fade into the sidelines and not be an identity in themselves.”

There are three ways of lighting artwork, Keller explains. One is a lamp that attaches onto the picture frame, most commonly Richardson Reflector. Second is a framing projector or pin lights, which are placed in a hollow above the ceiling and project light through a lens that distributes light evenly over the surface of the picture. Third is track lighting or another form of ceiling light that tends to flood the wall, rather than the picture, with a wash of light. Lamps such as Richardson Reflector are most appropriate for substantial picture frames, which help to obscure the fixture. Pictures with very thin frames call for one of the other lighting methods.

The ultimate picture lighting evenly lights just the artwork, not the frame.

Tags: artwork lighting, Frank Keller, lighting art, Richardson Reflector