Stern Pissarro Gallery | Case Study

The Stern Pissarro Gallery in Mayfair has a unique place in the art world, representing five generations of works by the Pissarro family.

The London gallery is renowned for its permanent collection that features 20th-century European painting, including Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, School of Paris, French Post-War, Modern and Contemporary works.

The owners needed high CRI directional lighting to ensure that the unique works of art on the two floors of the St James Street gallery were illuminated in the best possible light with true-to-life colours.

The gallery knew from previous experience that Soraa LED lamps were of the highest standard and were keen to use the company’s products again.

They also wanted the facility to alter colour temperatures and beam angles without the need for lamp switch-out or replacement.

Requirements

Improved lighting Aesthetics
Achieve the same ambience
A modern & consistent design

Stern Pissarro first contacted SaveMoneyCutCarbon after an online search identified them as a Master Distributor for Soraa. At that point, they were looking for 50 Soraa MR16s and a dedicated Account Manager at SaveMoneyCutCarbon handled the request.

At the same time, the gallery owners advised they were seeking to improve the lighting aesthetics as the installed halogen track lights from different suppliers provided inconsistent and patchy results, as well as looking bulky and unattractive.

The client insisted that any lighting solution would have to achieve the same ambience while clearly having a modern and consistent design. The colour temperature of the halogen lamps would need to be matched or bettered.

Solution

The project was commissioned and managed by SaveMoneyCutCarbon to launch the new Soraa Arc Track and demonstrate the excellent quality of the new lights in an ideal environment. In return, the gallery agreed to offer the location for the launch event.

SaveMoneyCutCarbon consulted with the gallery to determine the best model for their needs based on an initial visit from their lighting designer, Hannah Deeley.

With colour rendering a central requirement, Soraa and SaveMoneyCutCarbon worked extensively with the gallery co-owner David Stern. Soraa provided various options for the Soraa Arc Track light – a range of colour temperatures, beam angles and finish best suited to the environment.

Soraa is a world leader in highest quality LEDs with its unique “GaN on GaN” technology and Vivid colour solutions. This simply means that every object is lit in its most natural form while highlighting real colours.

To provide the required flexibility and ease of use, the Soraa Snap system was the chosen solution. The innovative magnetic attachment filters and lenses provide exceptional control and the simple system is easy and adaptable. It ensures that the gallery can change colour temperatures and beam angles to optimise the lighting of the wide range of artwork and materials.

The Soraa Arc Track Lights feature a low profile heatsink with the better thermal management that efficiently disperses heat away from the LEDs and this means that no extra heat is released into gallery – a very important element to manage when exhibiting delicate artworks. The lower heat also increases the longevity of the lamps.

A further plus point for the gallery was that, unlike halogen, LEDs emit no UV light that can damage artworks.

Every art exhibit in the gallery required a specific form of lighting and the design and installation team worked closely with the gallery owners to achieve the optimal solutions with Soraa Snap for every piece of art.

Another challenge was in the overall look and feel of the track lighting. The installed track systems in the lower gallery were single circuit with those on the top gallery being 3-circuit. Soraa offered both compatibility options but the downstairs tracks seemed outdated and clashed with the Soraa lights.

SaveMoneyCutCarbon replaced this track system with a 3 circuit model to ensure consistency throughout the gallery.

The initial product specification was for 55 x ART50-10D940-E-G-W-S3 and 4 x ART100-09D940-E-G-W-S3. After installation, the gallery felt the new lights looked a little too modern and bright and wanted to adjust them for a warmer feel. This was achieved with the Soraa Snap colour shifter that easily reduced the colour temperature from 4000k to 3500k.

The stylish Soraa Track lights have created a modern and clean look and the gallery has preserved the same ambience and quality of light with the display of the most subtle colours.

With Soraa Snap, the gallery now has the flexibility to match the lighting to the changing artworks being exhibited.

Soraa LED lamps have the additional benefits of very long and maintenance-free life, low heat and no harmful UV rays.

The new LED track lighting has given the gallery a more modern aesthetic while recreating the ambience of the old and energy-guzzling halogens.

As a highly prestigious gallery, Stern Pissarro was the obvious choice to launch and demonstrate the vastly superior quality of the new Soraa Arc Track Lights. The Soraa track lights are the perfect fit for this type of high-end gallery. The solution ensures not only superior colour rendering and stylish design with low profile heatsink for better thermal management but also great flexibility to adjust the lighting on each piece of art for optimised colour temperature and beam angle.

Danni Brown, category marketing manager, SaveMoneyCutCarbon

SaveMoneyCutCarbon were incredibly efficient and very helpful. They were either on hand at the gallery or available by phone to answer our many questions.

The gallery is not easy to light, having paintings from different periods of time and mediums that are framed in a variety of ways, provides many challenges in achieving the best illumination. SaveMoneyCutCarbon was very knowledgeable and understood our needs.

Natalie Plan, Stern Pissarro Gallery Manager