I don’t think weird at all. some friends have an incredible very old painting in their dining room (it could pass for a Turner or something historic in that vein) and it is beautifully lit with a picture light. gorgeous, warm, and glowy.

Found some older pics of the room. The wall in question is the one with the red sideboard. Thinking sconces flanking the art, or a picture light over the art.

I know many people would have the sconces over the fireplace, but the fireplace wall is along a major walking traffic path, and the mantel is only about 3-4" deep so I envision people potentially walking into wall sconces unless they are very shallow. Okay, probably no one is going to walk into them, but I think they'd be awkward.

Or, as I'm looking at these pics...should we just add art lighting above the fireplace art?

My vote is for sconces, just wanted to throw it out for discussion and see what people think.

By the way. These were temporary chairs that have been replaced, and the runner on the table is gone.

I vote for a picture light. It will be a lovely effect when the chandelier is off. and won’t be in your eyes. with the chandelier on, it will enhance the painting. A lovely look all around.

Can you do wall sconces over the fp *and* a picture light over the picture on the other wall? If you are concerned about it being too bright, there are dimmers for that.

I was thinking of a wall hugging but a more modern sconce like this for over the fp.

Also, if you don't have a lot of outlets in the room, I'd consider having the electrician add some...if he can't thread them through the wall, then think about putting them in the floor.

My parents had at least one. We have ceiling lights above the two fireplaces, so those two pieces are specially lit, but I don't have them elsewhere.

I love wall sconces and have designed many of them at work, often to accompany chandelier designs that I did, but I would not want more than four sconces in any one room. If you have three or more art pieces that you want to light, then picture lights would be better IMO.

In L.A., we have LED Low-Voltage Track Head Ceiling Lights that are strung across our long and somewhat narrow living room.

It is easy to direct these light to various artworks. (The last photo shows a cardboard model I made of a door design that I liked.)

I know you can't do this in your dining room, but you asked to see what art lighting we have.

My house came with sconces....everywhere. I've been replacing them with more up-to-date pieces. Then I have clip-on art-work lighting. Remote controlled. Link I prefer the sconces for low lighting.....and....have NEVER used the artwork lights.

Frankly, I think lighting art is the way to go, especially as you seem particularly fond of art and have collected a lot of pieces. To me, it makes all the difference and really elevates the art. And yes, I also find it adds to the level of ambient light in the room. esp if dimmered

Trying to post pics.

We have several hardwired brass pic lights like these:

And spots

There are some cool picture lights…

When we remodeled we had the electrician install the wiring for the picture lights - one in the family room and two in our bedroom, and another on the stair landing. It makes a big difference in the ability to see the paintings. They are usually dimmed and provide a nice, soft light in the room.

Electrician is coming this afternoon to consult. We have a short list of little things for him in addition to the potential picture lights.

Questions…

Is it too much to have two picture lights in this space? I feel sad for the fireplace art if only the other painting gets lit.

We have two other large original paintings, one in living room and one in sitting room. (all 3 rooms are partly open to each other) Would the house start to look like a museum if the DR had 2 picture lights, LR had one, and SR had one? I think if I did all, I would do fancier ones in DR and more plain ones in LR and SR.

We have three large oil paintings in our family room but only one picture light. It's on the artwork that is over the mantel and that makes it a natural focal point in the room. The other two get enough light from the windows during the day and table lamps at night.

Now I am contemplating fireplace sconces and art light over the sideboard. I really want sconces somewhere! And maybe one more art light in the living room over the main painting in that room.

Please ignore princess dog with her blankie and heating pad.

Would the house start to look like a museum if the DR had 2 picture lights, LR had one, and SR had one?

Not at all. I think you will really enjoy having them lit. I think lighting is the most important part of a room, and I particularly like lots of different sources in one room.

We have decided on sconces for the FP and two picture lights, one in dining and one in living room. I will start a new thread for sconce votes.

I love picture lights!

The house won't look like an art museum with multiple picture lights. You can't light up your art if you don't have lights but you can always opt to not turn them on. You can also use a dimmer switch with the lights. I agree with Honu3421, light your art. We had 4" direction lights installed in the ceilings in our dining room, one wall in the great room and above 2 fireplaces. I also have wall sconces on each side of the opening between my great room and kitchen/dining room. Right now some of the art has been replaced by wreaths.

Here are my wall sconces. They are similar to the ones Annie posted. They provide mood lighting more than "lighting up" anything anything.