Choosing artwork is a very personal process, and it’s important to think about the best way to present the piece once you take it home.
You can create drama with the way you illuminate specific pieces. These easy techniques achieve very different effects.
You can either pick out a key picture within the group and light only this, letting the light spill on to other works; or use accent lights to project a pool of light on to the group of works; or light each piece using individual lights.
Avoid positioning artwork in natural light that’s high in UV radiation in the morning and high in infrared radiation in the evening. These wavelengths are outside the visible light spectrum but are damaging to delicate pigments.
Avoid placing artworks directly between large windows. Your eyes will struggle to see the artwork during the daytime without significant artificial light levels. Artworks with reflective glass or a high gloss level shouldn’t be mounted directly opposite windows, to prevent undesirable reflections.
• Harry Triggs and Andrew Molyneux, the founders of TM Lighting; www.tmlighting.com
