Reflections on light monitoring: Evaluating museum lighting options for modern and contemporary art

Abstract

Spectrometric handheld light meters that can provide adequate data for evaluation of replacement bulbs for contemporary art objects are now commercially available. This approach was taken to assess potential replacements for the incandescent street lamps in Chris Burden's Urban Light at LACMA, Los Angeles, USA. These meters are also useful tools for monitoring and characterizing museum lighting, which are currently done with illuminance (lux) meters. The new spectral light meters will enable conservators to tailor lighting recommendations for individual artworks, when spectral information from these meters is combined with damage function data on artists’ materials. The latter information can be obtained for some materials by a small modification to the microfade testing procedure, as exemplified by microfading colored samples Henri Matisse created during the design phase for La Gerbe.