Best Picture Lights Reviews with Buying Guide for 2023

Your choice of artwork lighting product needs to suit not just the artwork and picture it is illuminating but be suitable to install and be of benefit to the whole room.

With over 20 years of lighting consultancy specification and interior design experience, I take a look at the key buying considerations with product choices that meet our test criteria to suit most applications.

Best Overall

If you’re in a rush – this is the favorite: Situ Lighting’s wireless and rechargeable Touch Series LED Art Light

Situ Lighting: Cordless Rechargeable Touch Series

We love the magnetic removable LED head for convenient easy recharging. Well considered options and thought through design, a great choice from a reliable US maker.

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Top Cordless

Types of Lighting for Pictures and Artwork

There are many ways to light artwork and pictures and your decision is likely to be one of the most popular types of picture lighting, which are:

• Wall Mount Picture Lights
• Frame Mount Picture Lights
• Cordless Picture Lights (Battery Powered)
• Plug in Corded Picture Lights

and remotely lit by:

• Recessed Downlights
• Spotlights
• Track Mount Spotlights
• Wall Washers

How Should You Light Your Picture?

The first consideration is what method will best suit your picture and room?

Probably the most popular is from a wall mounted picture light, so we ask How to Light Artwork on a Wall, explaining the best ways to achieve optimal illumination across your art.

You can categorise the methods as being either to throw light across the art from a source that sits close up to the subject or wash light across it from a distance.

Illuminate Close Up

Wall mounted picture lighting concentrates light onto the picture very well creating a pleasing highlight within the room. However, the light will predominantly come from the top and spread downwards, so the brightest part of the picture will be at the top. 

If the picture is not too long then there shouldn’t be too much of a difference between the top and bottom and the eye will assist by helping it look evenly lit.

You can reduce the opportunity for glare to the viewer with wall-mounted picture lighting as the light source is neatly hidden and close to the glass of the picture reducing the potential reflectance.

Illuminate From a Distance

To remotely lit pictures from spotlights or downlights, it will allow the light to spread before reaching the surface of the art, allowing for more even illumination. However, the installation of remote lighting will need to consider the angle of the light and the beam widths to ensure the light will fall in the middle of the picture.

There can be a penalty for a more even illumination of the picture is an increased chance of glare from the reflectance of the light source in the glass and from within the room if you can look up into the light fixture.

Check out our in depth but easy to understand guide with 25 Tips on How to Light Artwork and Pictures in your Home.

Technical Considerations When Choosing Picture Lights

There is much to consider, namely:

• LED Light Source – The primary choice of LED is UV free, low heat, efficient and very long lasting. Other options of incandescent, fluorescent and halogen still exist but are superseded by LED.
• Direct Power – is there a power source where you want to mount the light? Do check if you can bring power to either the ceiling near the pictures or in the wall that the artwork is mounted on
• Power Supply – check your choice has a long life battery, is rechargeable or comes with a cable and plug.
• LED Driver – Some LED artwork lights require a separate LED driver, its power supply, to be installed remotely so make sure you have all you need.
• Go Cordless? – wireless art lights run by the wonderfully convenient option of battery power requiring no messy expensive installation. However, in our opinion choose a wired-in solution over cordless where possible to avoid the inconvenience of recharging batteries, but use them for those areas and older style buildings that cannot get power to your chosen location for the art.
• Glare – from the light sources, in the glass or from within the room. The best angle for minimal glare is approximately a 30 degree angle from the source to the picture.
• Beam Angle & Width – to evenly illuminate your artwork.
• Light Output – to ensure there are enough lumens of output to sufficiently light up the size.
• Finish – to match your artwork or frame.
• Style – to complement the room décor.
• Color temperature – to ensure the light from the source suits the subject matter. Would a warm 2700K white better suit the picture over a colder 4000K white? You have multiple options of light color from LED.
• Color rendering – the ability of a light source to show the true colors of an object. CRI is a measurement with a scale from 0-100 with 100 being the highest quality of color rendering.
• Dimmable – so you can create the perfect mood in the room, choosing a product with brightness adjustability to allow for the tuning of the light otherwise it becomes a distraction.

Aesthetic Considerations When Choosing Picture Lights

There are also aesthetic considerations that influence your choice:

• Style of Light – the type of artwork or picture can help you decide on the style of lighting. A classic painting may look good with a more traditional-looking picture light whereas a modern print or photograph could be better suited to a contemporary one.
• Style of Room – the type of room can also help you decide on the style of lighting. A more formal room may lend itself to a classic picture light whereas a more relaxed space could carry off a more informal or contemporary design.
• Size of Artwork – you must select a width of picture light that is more than half but not any wider than the frame the art sits within. LED picture lighting needs to be more towards the full width if possible as the light created is more directional.
• Accent Light – how the light will affect the interior around it? Include this choice as a sum part of the whole room’s lighting, it will play an excellent role as an accent light as one of the key layers of light in a room.
• Adaptable – will the artwork be changing reasonably regularly? Would a track system be a more suitable option so you can reposition the lights as and when needed

Wall Mount or Frame Mount

For close up illumination, there are 2 types of installation both with an arm that extends the light source to in front of the picture and points back. The wall mount fixes directly onto the wall, whilst the frame mount attaches itself to the back of the picture frame, leaving the wall intact.

The frame mount options are generally more hidden and discrete as a light source, simply allowing an arm and light head to be seen, but be aware that additional power supplies may need to be remotely located either behind the picture or elsewhere in the room.

A wall mount will need a backplate to fix to the wall so it can look larger but it will self contained and not require additional bits of kit to hide.

Top Picture Lights Reviews

All of our top artwork light choices are indicative for you to head to the product and then select the width and color finish most suitable to each of your pictures. Every model offers it’s own selection of options so click over and see what suits you best.

Best Wall Mounted Picture Lighting

Situ Lighting: Plug-in Vision Series

Slim, discrete comtemporary picture wall light in 2700K & 3000K, multiple widths, brass, black, bronze and silver finishes. Professional artwork light manufacturer.

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Best Picture Wall Light

The Plug-in Vision Series from market leading US made Situ Art Lighting, is one of a stunning line up of picture lights. With discreet cord routing to the side or back of the frame, this is one of the sleekest looking types of artwork lighting.

Choose from wide variety of finishes including Black, Bronze or Silver anodized finishes and 17″, 30″ 43″ 56″ widths with either 2700K or 3000K warm white LEDs.

50 brightness settings with a high color rendering of CRI95+, remote control and a good warranty make this one of the best picture lights on the market.

Best Frame Mount Picture Lights

Cocoweb Rechargeable Battery Operated Art Light

Rechargeable battery, providing over 40 hours of light per charge. Great range of finishes to suit your art & interior. 2700K, remote controlled brightness adjustability. Great choice.

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Best Buy

The Cocoweb frame mount gallery light offers an easy installation as the picture light is fixed to the back of the frame without having to mount to the wall.

It is also a fantastic solution for those without power or the need for a hard wired installation as it is has a rechargeable battery.

With remote control, adjustable LED brightness levels and direction of light, this is one of the most versatile frame mount picture lights currently available.

Best Cordless Picture Light

Situ Lighting: Cordless Rechargeable Touch Series

We love the magnetic removable LED head for convenient easy recharging. Well considered options and thought through design, a great choice from a reliable US maker.

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Top Cordless

Situ Lighting’s wireless and rechargeable Touch Series LED Art Light has been our best cordless light choice for sometime, trusted and used by many.

This model is also frame mounted and battery operated, so there isn’t much between the Cocoweb frame mount and this one, each with a simpicity to install and the reassurance of a great brand behind it.

The Situ Touch Series is available in various lengths with a choice of Black, Bronze or Silver finishes to match your artwork and room decor. This can even be mounted at the base of a picture to light upwards.

Battery operated lighting needs to be efficient on use of power, so the auto shut off feature and variable brightness modes add to longer run times. Magnetic removable LED head for convenient easy recharging.

Best Remotely Lit Picture Lighting

BLS Remote Ceiling Art Light

Light pictures from your ceiling, no wiring required. Remote controlled battery operated adjustable lighting opens up so many possibilities to throw light across walls and into art wherever it is.

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Remotely Light Your Pictures

The Bliss Wireless Ceiling Mount Art Light is a battery operated, remotely controlled light that is designed to be installed on the ceiling.

Another battery operated option, this method of remotely lighting artwork from a distance creates a wider wash of light over the image for even illumination. It also has a adjustable arm so you can direct where light goes and shape the light to suit the proportions of your artwork, is remote controlled for on off and brightness.

The main drawback is it’s visibility being surface mounted on the ceiling, but that can be outweighed by it’s performance. Changing batteries is also a restriction, but if you were installing a wired version then a spotlight would be better so this wins as a great picture light solution without wiring.

Best Budget Picture Light

KIALUSH 900lm Dimmable LED Picture Light

Budget but impressive, 3000K, 4000K, 5000K of white light and a bonus UV light party LED setting! 16" wide, adjustable with dimmable settings, this model suits most artwork applications.

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Budget Choice

Picture lighting doesn’t have to be expensive, yet you do not want your budget choice to be a dissapointing compromise especially if it is hard wired into your room!

We have currently chosen the best selling Kialush 900 lumen LED Picture light as it meets our key criteria of the correct color temperature, dimming/”>dimmable with hand held remote control, retains a sleek look often associated with more expensive models and in this case is in black.

The lumens/” rel=”noreferrer noopener” target=”_blank”>brightness of 900 lumens creates a surprisingly strong illumination, that can be reduced to 10%, so 90 lumens for a gentle evening accent light.

At under $35 it is a fantastic budget choice for those who want the convenience of a remote control without sacrificing on quality or looks.

Best Micro Sized Picture Light

Situ Compact Remote Controlled LED Picture Light

Designed And Made By An American Company Specializing In Smallest LED Art & Picture Lights Made. Plugs into socket or recessed clock boxes

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Micro Series

We are back with Situ Lighting’s design excellence again with their Plug-in Micro Series, designed from scratch to create the perfect light from the smallest of form factors.

The most discrete we can find on the market from a trusted manufacturer, this is one of the best smallest picture lights available offering the highest level of specification.

Sized between 1/2″ to 2 1/4″ wide, these compact lights replace up to the equivalent light spread of a 20” wide traditional model. With 1, 2 or 3 LED options within an adjustable head, this most modern of picture light solutions simply installs onto framed and unframed pictures.

Andrew Orange, the owner of Orange Lighting qualified and worked as an interior designer in 1993 before specialising in lighting working on high profile projects based in London. Since starting Orange Lighting Ltd in 2003 he has been sharing his knowledge and unique teaching style mostly to his designer clients, offering practical real life advice born from running a busy consultancy and lighting supply business. Launching in 2020, his blog has evolved into Quick & Easy Lighting, curating some 25 years design experience into making the lighting choice and design process achievable and easy to understand for all.