Preserving Art with LED Lighting for Museums

Art lighting in museums has always been important. Not only should it highlight the art on display, but it should also bring out the true colors of the artwork. However, certain lights can darken or fade the colors of a painting past the point of restoration.

This has been an issue for gallery lighting designers for decades. Many paintings by artists like Van Gogh have suffered from the harmful effects of light exposure. Because of this, the works of art you see in a museum may not portray the authentic coloring they once did.

The specific type of light that is harmful for paintings is UV light. This is because of the damaging chemical reaction that occurs when UV light comes into contact with paint or pigment. The light oxidizes the paint, causing fading, yellowing, and even cracking. This kind of damage is unfixable because it alters the basic molecular makeup of the paint.

Both natural and artificial light can cause this reaction, which makes lighting museums, galleries, and art studios difficult.

The difficulty goes even beyond lighting. Certain paint colors, like chrome yellow, are especially susceptible to UV rays. Because of this, artists will avoid using them entirely to preserve the quality of their work. This is why many centuries-old artworks that did use these paints look their age.

Fluorescent, incandescent, and halogen lights all emit levels of UV radiation. To work around this, museums would put UV filters over their artificial lights. They would also avoid using windows as primary light sources for artwork to prevent UV damage from sun rays. But these methods are not always 100-percent effective.

Additionally, UV-emitting light bulbs are slowly phasing out of the market per the new Department of Energy regulations. So, museums are seeking out a reliable, strong alternative to replace them. With the lighting industry making the grand switch to LEDs, museum lighting is following. But the reasoning is more than just to cut energy costs.

LED light bulbs provide a simple solution for preserving art: they give off virtually no UV light at all. This is part of the reason they’re so energy efficient. LED bulbs are the least harmful lighting option on the market for museums and art galleries currently.

When LED technology was still in its first stages, museums were reluctant to switch to LEDs. People viewed LEDs as too cold and harsh on the eyes, especially for gallery lighting. But now, LEDs are the most versatile lighting systems out there, with abilities to change color temperature, brightness, and beam direction.

Museums can use LEDs as exact replacements for their old light bulbs if they wish. It is possible to tune LED bulbs to match the same warmth or hue the traditional lights had before. Certain LEDs can also mimic daylight to fill in spaces where windows are nonexistent or obscured to block sunlight. Designers and curators can get creative with artwork lighting and experiment with an array of different highlight angles and dimming options.

All these benefits have made LED lighting for museums the most popular design choice by far. LED lighting works to directly avoid harmful UV rays, reduce energy costs, and ultimately illuminate art as authentically as possible.

We can categorize the different types of LED art lighting into two groups: high-contrast and low-contrast.

High-contrast lighting puts artwork in extreme focus. Sometimes referred to as accent lighting, it directs the viewer's attention and creates intense highlights and shadows. LED bulbs with narrow beam angles are best for creating high-contrast ratios. Accent lighting is most often used for sculptures and 3D exhibits where there are multiple angles to emphasize.

Low-contrast lighting is a more subtle way of highlighting a piece. Also called a wash, this type of lighting covers the art in a soft, even layer of light. Intersecting wide beam angles are best for achieving a uniform wash. Low-contrast lighting often illuminates paintings and other 2D works where the entire piece needs equal levels of light.

CRI, or color rendering index, is also a major factor to consider when choosing LEDs for art gallery lighting. The CRI is a measure of how accurate an artificial light portrays colors in comparison to natural daylight. CRI scores range from 0-100, with 100 being the most accurate portrayal.

High CRI light bulbs are essential for gallery lighting, specifically ratings of 90 or above. Every color in an artwork needs to appear as close to its natural state as possible. LED bulbs are some of the only bulbs on the market now that have these capabilities. So, the best LED lights for galleries are going to be narrow beam spotlights or wide beam floodlights with high CRIs.

Color temperature, measured in Kelvins, is also important when choosing museum lighting. The warmth or coolness of the illumination determines the mood and color appearance of an artwork. Lower color temperatures of 3000K or below give off warmer light that appears softer and more yellow. Higher color temperatures of 3100K and above emit cooler, bright white or blue light.

Every piece of art is different and may require its own individual style of lighting. But LEDs have plenty of variation to fit any design, on top of being cost and energy efficient.

Exposure to any kind of light is going to affect a piece of artwork over time. But museums are using different types of LED lights to minimize these effects and preserve their art for much longer. Next time you visit a museum exhibition, check out the lighting design to see LEDs at work.