Picture lights for artwork, mirrors, alcoves and bookshelves. Hardwired, plug-in and rechargeable.
How to size one to a frame and where to mount it is below the collection.
A small fitting that changes a whole wall
Most art in most houses is invisible after dark. It hangs on a wall that the ceiling light barely reaches, and from about four o'clock in November onwards nobody looks at it.
A picture light fixes that, and it does something else at the same time. Light on a vertical surface is what gives a room depth. A lit painting at the end of a hall pulls your eye down the space and makes the hall feel longer. The same fitting over a mirror in a dining room bounces light back into the room and doubles what it seems to be doing.
They are also, quietly, one of the best-value fittings in the shop. Small, low output, cheap to run, and the effect is out of all proportion to the size of the thing.
Sizing and mounting
| What you're lighting | Light width | Mounting |
|---|---|---|
| A framed picture | Half to two-thirds the width of the frame | Just above the top of the frame, angled down onto the work |
| A large canvas | Two-thirds, or two smaller lights side by side | One light on a very wide piece leaves the edges dark |
| A tall narrow piece | Narrower fitting, mounted closer | Steeper angle so the light reaches the bottom of the work |
| A mirror | Half to two-thirds the width | Watch the reflection. Mount so the fitting itself isn't in the glass from where people sit. |
| Alcove or bookshelf | Sized to the shelf width | Mount under the shelf above rather than on the back wall |
Glazed artwork
Glass and perspex reflect, and a picture light in the wrong position will bounce straight back at whoever is looking. The fix is angle rather than brightness. Mounting slightly further out from the wall and aiming down more steeply usually clears it.
Worth checking from where people actually stand or sit, not from directly in front. A hall picture is mostly seen at an angle as people walk past.
Hardwired, plug-in or rechargeable
Hardwired is the tidiest. No visible flex, switched with the room, and it looks like it was always meant to be there. The catch is a cable in the wall, which means chasing and making good in a finished room.
Plug-in fittings trail a flex to the nearest socket. Fine behind a sideboard where the cable is hidden, less good on an open wall.
Rechargeable picture lights have solved this problem neatly. No wiring at all, magnetic mounts on many of them, and you take them down to charge every few weeks. For a rented home, or for anyone who wants to move art around without calling an electrician, they are the obvious answer.
Will it damage the artwork?
Not with modern lighting. The old worry about picture lights came from filament bulbs, which ran hot and put out ultraviolet, and over years that faded pigments and yellowed paper.
Modern fittings run cool and emit essentially no ultraviolet. For anything genuinely valuable, still keep the output modest and the fitting a sensible distance from the surface, and take advice on the piece itself. For everything else, light it and enjoy it.
Warm light for old paint
Warmer light suits oils, watercolours and anything with age to it, because it flatters the pigments the way daylight through a window does. Cooler light tends to make old work look washed out. Each product page lists the bulb we recommend, which takes the guesswork out of it.
Installation
Hardwired fittings should go up via an electrician registered with Safe Electric. Plug-in and rechargeable fittings you can mount yourself.
Come and see them lit
The effect of a picture light is entirely about what it does to a surface, which no product photograph conveys. Our showroom in Donabate, Co. Dublin has them mounted and lit.
Picture lights: your questions answered
What size picture light do I need?
Roughly half to two-thirds the width of the frame. On a very wide canvas, two smaller lights side by side beat one light that leaves the edges dark.
How high should a picture light be mounted?
Just above the top of the frame, angled down onto the work. For a tall narrow piece, mount closer and aim more steeply so the light reaches the bottom.
Will a picture light damage my artwork?
Not with modern fittings, which run cool and emit essentially no ultraviolet. The old concern came from filament bulbs. For anything genuinely valuable, keep the output modest and take advice on the piece itself.
Can I fit a picture light without wiring?
Yes. Rechargeable picture lights need no wiring at all and many use magnetic mounts, so you can move art around freely. Plug-in fittings are the other option where a flex can be hidden.
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Picture Lights
Picture lights for artwork, mirrors, alcoves and bookshelves. Hardwired, plug-in and rechargeable.
How to size one to a frame and where to mount it is below the collection.
A small fitting that changes a whole wall
Most art in most houses is invisible after dark. It hangs on a wall that the ceiling light barely reaches, and from about four o'clock in November onwards nobody looks at it.
A picture light fixes that, and it does something else at the same time. Light on a vertical surface is what gives a room depth. A lit painting at the end of a hall pulls your eye down the space and makes the hall feel longer. The same fitting over a mirror in a dining room bounces light back into the room and doubles what it seems to be doing.
They are also, quietly, one of the best-value fittings in the shop. Small, low output, cheap to run, and the effect is out of all proportion to the size of the thing.
Sizing and mounting
| What you're lighting | Light width | Mounting |
|---|---|---|
| A framed picture | Half to two-thirds the width of the frame | Just above the top of the frame, angled down onto the work |
| A large canvas | Two-thirds, or two smaller lights side by side | One light on a very wide piece leaves the edges dark |
| A tall narrow piece | Narrower fitting, mounted closer | Steeper angle so the light reaches the bottom of the work |
| A mirror | Half to two-thirds the width | Watch the reflection. Mount so the fitting itself isn't in the glass from where people sit. |
| Alcove or bookshelf | Sized to the shelf width | Mount under the shelf above rather than on the back wall |
Glazed artwork
Glass and perspex reflect, and a picture light in the wrong position will bounce straight back at whoever is looking. The fix is angle rather than brightness. Mounting slightly further out from the wall and aiming down more steeply usually clears it.
Worth checking from where people actually stand or sit, not from directly in front. A hall picture is mostly seen at an angle as people walk past.
Hardwired, plug-in or rechargeable
Hardwired is the tidiest. No visible flex, switched with the room, and it looks like it was always meant to be there. The catch is a cable in the wall, which means chasing and making good in a finished room.
Plug-in fittings trail a flex to the nearest socket. Fine behind a sideboard where the cable is hidden, less good on an open wall.
Rechargeable picture lights have solved this problem neatly. No wiring at all, magnetic mounts on many of them, and you take them down to charge every few weeks. For a rented home, or for anyone who wants to move art around without calling an electrician, they are the obvious answer.
Will it damage the artwork?
Not with modern lighting. The old worry about picture lights came from filament bulbs, which ran hot and put out ultraviolet, and over years that faded pigments and yellowed paper.
Modern fittings run cool and emit essentially no ultraviolet. For anything genuinely valuable, still keep the output modest and the fitting a sensible distance from the surface, and take advice on the piece itself. For everything else, light it and enjoy it.
Warm light for old paint
Warmer light suits oils, watercolours and anything with age to it, because it flatters the pigments the way daylight through a window does. Cooler light tends to make old work look washed out. Each product page lists the bulb we recommend, which takes the guesswork out of it.
Installation
Hardwired fittings should go up via an electrician registered with Safe Electric. Plug-in and rechargeable fittings you can mount yourself.
Come and see them lit
The effect of a picture light is entirely about what it does to a surface, which no product photograph conveys. Our showroom in Donabate, Co. Dublin has them mounted and lit.
Picture lights: your questions answered
What size picture light do I need?
Roughly half to two-thirds the width of the frame. On a very wide canvas, two smaller lights side by side beat one light that leaves the edges dark.
How high should a picture light be mounted?
Just above the top of the frame, angled down onto the work. For a tall narrow piece, mount closer and aim more steeply so the light reaches the bottom.
Will a picture light damage my artwork?
Not with modern fittings, which run cool and emit essentially no ultraviolet. The old concern came from filament bulbs. For anything genuinely valuable, keep the output modest and take advice on the piece itself.
Can I fit a picture light without wiring?
Yes. Rechargeable picture lights need no wiring at all and many use magnetic mounts, so you can move art around freely. Plug-in fittings are the other option where a flex can be hidden.