Anti-reflective museum glass is the optimal solution for a true-to-the-original view of the picture.
HALBE-Rahmen offers the high-quality museum glass in three qualities.
Kirchen, 18 July 2023 - Glass is not just glass - framing a picture with the right glass turns a work of art into a real eye-catcher. There are a variety of different glass qualities that differ in terms of properties and price. Museum glass is enjoying increasing popularity, as its perfect transparency makes it the optimal solution for a true-to-the-original view of the picture. Moreover, it meets the highest demands. Since SCHOTT is discontinuing the production of Mirograd museum glass, HALBE-Rahmen (www.halbe-rahmen.de) has added the high-quality Artglass from the Latvian manufacturer Groglass to its product portfolio. The quality of Artglass is equal to that of Mirogard - in some cases even better. As of now, HALBE-Rahmen offers the new anti-reflective museum glass with 70 %, 92 % and 99 % UV protection.
Museum glass for a real view of the picture
Every art lover wants to look at a picture undisturbed by unpleasant reflections and mirroring. Therefore, when framing a work of art, it is not only the choice of the appropriate profile that is of enormous importance, but also the glass. Anyone who economises here out of ignorance is saving in the wrong place and often regrets it. Whether etching, watercolour, printmaking or photography - they all need protective glass against contact, dirt and dust as well as the effects of light.
Cheap glossy glasses often reflect strongly, and frosted glasses make colours look duller. Only high-quality anti-reflective interference glass - also called museum glass - guarantees an almost reflection-free view with the best colour rendition and contour sharpness.
Essential differences between acrylic or mineral glass
First and foremost, a distinction is made between acrylic and mineral glass when choosing frame glass. The best-known acrylic glass brand is PLEXIGLAS®. Compared to mineral glass, acrylic glass has the advantage of being unbreakable and considerably lighter. It is softer than mineral glass and therefore more sensitive to scratches. Acrylic glass is preferred for artworks in XXL format and for touring exhibitions, where weight-related transport savings and break resistance are important.
Mineral glass not only has the advantage over plastic glass that it is less sensitive due to its harder surface, but it is also airtight and acid-resistant. The basic disadvantages are the high inherent weight and the easy breakability. That is why all glass from HALBE also has a thickness of at least 3 mm and is thus much more stable compared to commercially available 2 mm thick panes.
Properties of the different mineral glass qualities
Whether normal, white, safety or museum glass - the various glass qualities differ essentially in their colour rendering, image brilliance, reflection, UV protection and conservation properties. Normal glass is particularly suitable for framing works of art without high demands on UV protection, security and excellent image reproduction. The "all-rounder" is white glass when UV protection is not required, as it offers perfect colour rendering for an unadulterated representation of the picture.
Toughened safety glass is particularly impact-resistant. Should glass break nevertheless, it disintegrates into the smallest pieces without sharp edges. Anti-reflective museum glass is the optimal solution for an unclouded enjoyment of art with the highest demands on conservation framing.
Museum glass - reflection-free through light waves travelling in opposite directions
Museum glass is an interference-optical anti-reflective glass, i.e. the glass is vapour-deposited with a number of invisible, thin layers of metal oxide, each of which reflects a different waveband of light. They prevent reflections through the physical effect of destructive interference of light waves. Depending on the length and energy, the reflected light waves cancel each other out. Similar to a spectacle lens, the glass surface remains smooth and reflections are reduced to less than one percent by the coating. This makes the glass completely transparent. When looking at the picture, one even has the feeling that the frame has no glass at all.
Museum glass has up to 99 % UV protection
As a general rule, no work of art should be hung opposite a window or exposed to the sun. All types of paper react more or less sensitively to light - especially to UV radiation. The sun is very aggressive and can bleach colours and yellow papers after only a short time. This damage is irreparable. Even with indirect LED lighting - which is free of UV radiation - picture frame glass with high UV protection is still important. Normal glass blocks only about 45 % of UV light. Anti-reflective museum glass can have up to 99 % UV protection.
In addition, interference-optical glass reduces reflections by more than 99 %, which in turn still means a slight, greenish or bluish residual reflection, depending on the product. This is normal and is part of the character of anti-reflective glass. The slight tint is deliberately chosen and is perceived as pleasant by the viewer. In general, the residual reflection can be made almost invisible by weak, diffuse lighting with a lower light spectrum and an acute angle of incidence to the glass surface. "Should a work of art be staged opposite a window, frosted glass with diffuse reflections has the most pleasant effect," says David Halbe, Managing Director of HALBE-Rahmen GmbH.
Artglass replaces Mirogard
"Until now, we purchased the Mirogard series from glass manufacturer SCHOTT. Since production of this high-quality museum glass has been discontinued, we decided to include Artglass from Groglass as an alternative in our product portfolio," David Halbe emphasises. "The Latvian glassworks is one of the leading suppliers of anti-reflective picture frame glass in Europe."
The quality of Artglass is on par with the renowned Mirogard. The only difference is in the coating process. While SCHOTT coated its glasses in a dipping process before firing them in the kiln, Groglass vapour-deposits its glasses in a so-called "sputtering process". It is not only more energy-saving, but also ensures a consistently high quality - which withstands mechanical and chemical quality testing at all times. The advantages of Artglass are higher UV protection and very good maintenance properties due to an extremely smooth and insensitive surface.
As of now, HALBE offers the new Artglass in the varieties AR 70 (70 % UV protection), AR 92 (92 % UV protection) and AR 99 Protect (double-pane safety glass with 99 % UV protection) to all art lovers for the highest enjoyment of art.
When framing a work of art, it is not only the selection of the appropriate profile that is of enormous importance, but also the glass. Those who save here out of ignorance save in the wrong place and often regret it.
Compared to mineral glass, acrylic glass has the advantage of being unbreakable and considerably lighter. The best-known acrylic glass brand is PLEXIGLAS®.
Whether normal, white or museum glass - the various glass qualities essentially differ in their colour rendering, image brilliance, reflection, UV protection and conservation properties.
Due to the slightly higher iron content, the normal glass has a slight green tint compared to the white glass, which shows off art objects to their best advantage with its very good colour rendering and incomparable transparency.
Museum glass is an interference-optical anti-reflective glass that reduces reflections to less than one percent thanks to its special coating. The glass is completely transparent.
As a general rule, you should not hang a work of art opposite a window or expose it to the sun. All types of paper react more or less sensitively to light - especially to UV radiation.
Normal glass only blocks approx. 45 % of UV light. HALBE-Rahmen now offers the new anti-reflective museum glass "Artglass" from the Latvian manufacturer Groglass with 70 %, 92 % and 99 % UV protection for maximum enjoyment of art.
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