Lighting a unique art exhibition at Hever Castle

We’re really excited to be working with Hever Castle lighting a unique exhibition opening in Autumn 2018. The new permanent exhibition, guest curated by renowned historian David Starkey, charts the saga of the Tudors from the Wars of the Roses through to the Reformation. Brilliant is lighting over twenty portraits of the Tudors hung in dynastic order in the Long Gallery created in 1506 by Thomas Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s father.

The Long Gallery project at Hever is a great example of what we do best. We work with our clients to develop inventive solutions to challenging problems. In this instance the main challenges include:

• Working with the age and value of the paintings and the buildings. Fixing methods have to be as unobtrusive as possible. Light levels have to be fine tuned to show the wonderful detail in the pictures without over-lighting them
• Coordinating with other things around the pictures. That’s both an aesthetic and practical consideration; each painting is to be authentically hung with its own set of mini curtains. The light fittings have to “disappear” into the panelling without bumping into the curtain rail.
• The end result has to meet the needs of a range of stakeholders. The team at Hever Castle have a view on the practical installation requirements and cost. David Starkey as Curator has a clear view on how it should look and the solution has to work for Renaissance Textiles, the curtain experts.

We have developed a bespoke solution which we think works with all the objectives. The next post will look at live testing with all the team on site.

Lighting fine art is a passion of ours and we have developed innovative solutions to make the most of our clients’ artwork collections. If you’d like to know more about how we can help you with your artwork lighting, please get in touch with us here.