Reflection from Glazed Pictures

Abstract

IN directing attention to the question of avoiding reflection from glazed pictures, Mr. Robert Howden has rendered a useful service both to artists and the public. His paper, read before the Royal Society of Arts on Oct. 3, clearly stated the elements and difficulties of the problem, and it is significant that Sir Edwin Lutyens was in the chair. Mr. Howden recommends replacing the usual flat glass by a sheet bent into a parabola. The adaptation of this device to shop fronts has recently been developed by Mr. G. Brown, and the effectiveness of such a scheme may be seen by viewing the interior of a motor show-room at 88 Regent Street, London, through the curved plate glass windows. No reflection of the street can be seen and only the contents of the showroom is visible from without, so that the window itself does not seem to exist. If this could be applied to pictures in public galleries, it would indeed be a boon. But there is the question of cost and the ever-haunting thought that perhaps some other and simpler solution of the problem may not be out of reach. In order to be effective, pictures hung high up would require a different curvature of glass from those on a level with the eye, and then all the varieties of sizes and shapes of canvases or panels would offer further difficulties. Would it not be as well to try first the simple device of tilting the pictures a little forward ? Why is that not done in the public galleries ? We think this would at least be an improvement on existing conditions and, if sufficiently successful under the usual system of lighting, the walls of new galleries could be built so as to lean a little inwards. It might be worth while to construct a light wooden framing that would cover one of the smaller walls of the National Gallery, to hang upon it pictures with dark backgrounds and then to tilt the screen forwards and note the improvement in visibility under the conditions of top lighting in use there.