23 Inch Classic A1 Stretcher Bar 3/4" Deep #A1-23

Classic™ 3/4" Deep Bar • 1/16" Canvas Clearance

This Stretcher Bar is the standard in the industry for Stretched Canvases and works with standard picture frames. It provides 1/16" Canvas Clearance on both sides, you can stretch either side of the Bar.

• Produces a 3/4" deep stretched canvas (Actual depth is 11/16")
• 1-5/8" wide Stretcher Bar
• Precision machined corners
• Solid Ponderosa Pine or Fir from the Pacific Northwest
• The ends are mirror images of each other, so they naturally fit together; no other parts are needed
• Corner Keys may be purchased separately to expand the frame, only if needed to increase the tension after the canvas has been stretched

Solid Wood is Archival - Finger Jointed Wood is Not

We only use Solid Wood to build our Stretcher Bars because a solid piece of wood will last indefinitely. When we speak of archival value, it's not just the paint you use and the quality of your canvas and ground, even the wood choices manufacturers make are part of the archival process.

The principal reason manufactures use finger jointed wood is reduce cost, not increase archival value. Wood constantly grows and shrinks when the environment becomes hotter, or colder, or more humid, or more dry. Because finger jointed wood is made-up of multiple and varied pieces of wood, with varying grain patterns and densities, they each absorb and shed moisture at varying rates, which works on the glue joints that hold them together, causing the wood to bow and the joints to eventually fail, and certainly not consistent with increasing the archival value of your artwork frame support.

As a manufacturer, we do our part to conserve as much wood as possible, and still provide a quality made product that will out-perform any other in the marketplace.

Sustainable Forests - A Precious Natural Resource

The air that we breathe depends upon our healthy forests the world over. For this reason, we only use lumber from the sustainable forests of the Pacific Northwest, so we can guarantee that our nation's precious natural timber resources are available for future generations.

Canvas Size Needed for this Stretcher Bar

Most artists will stretch the canvas and attach the staples or tacks onto the back side of the frame. Doing so allows you to paint on the edge and hang your art without needed a picture frame. Generally speaking, you should allow 4 Inches of canvas beyond the size of your frame.

For example, if you were to stretch a 23x33 frame size, which happens to be a custom proportion, your canvas should be about 4 x 27. This allows you ample room to stretch and attach the canvas on the back. Should you ever need to remove the canvas from the frame and re-attach it, it still serves that purpose too. Should you want to attach the canvas from the edge of the stretcher frame, then you can reduce the size of your canvas about 3/4" all the way around the frame.

Rooted in California and flourishing since 1965, Masterpiece® takes pride in its family-led legacy of crafting North America's premier Stretcher Bars. Our quest for excellence isn't just a goal but a commitment, positioning us as the trailblazers in the domain of fine-art canvas. Our innovative patents have set new benchmarks, ensuring our offerings stand unmatched. Dive into the tactile experience of our products, and you'll instantly recognize the distinct Masterpiece® quality, a signature appreciated by both your clientele and future art connoisseurs.

To create a work of art is to create the world. ♦ Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstract art, ventured beyond the visual confines of the world as we see it. Instead, he explored the intangible, the emotions, the sounds — making them palpable through his avant-garde creations. Kandinsky wasn't just painting pictures; he was, in a sense, reshaping the very understanding of what art could be.

Every brushstroke, every choice of color, every form taken by the paint on a canvas is a declaration of the artist's perception of the world. For us, as artists, the act of creation is a profound endeavor. It's not just about replicating reality; it's about reimagining it. With every piece we create, we offer a fresh perspective, a new world molded by our emotions, experiences, and insights. Just as Kandinsky believed, we hold the power to not just reflect the world but to reinvent it, making art a continually evolving dialogue between our inner worlds and the universe that surrounds us.

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With a nod to Wassily Kandinsky, we present these words of wisdom and our own custom crafted portrait. Let this fusion stoke your creative fires. Dive into your art!

Tight'n'Up™ Liquid Canvas Retensioner

One of our most celebrated products helps make your canvas tighter! Assembling Stretcher Bars and Stretching your own canvas can present some challenges. While your canvas may seem tightly stretched, the tension may vary from staple to staple creating lines of tension across the canvas in a grid like pattern. The trick is to maintain balanced tension across the canvas.

Tight'n'Up™ Liquid Canvas Re-Tensioner is a great way to redistribute the tension in a canvas across that grid-like pattern of tension as well as increase the tension on the entire canvas. While you can can add tension by keying-out the corners of the frame, it may produce an hour-glass effect by expanding the frame in the corners, and not the center.

With Tight'n'Up™, you can add tension to just a small area, or a large area. Simply spray it lightly on the back and brush it into the canvas, and within seconds, your canvas becomes tighter and stays tighter. The more you use, the tighter it gets. Recommended for acrylic primed cotton or linen canvas. We do not recommend it for oil primed canvas because there are simply too many different types of oil primed canvas, but used conservatively at your own risk, it will tension any canvas.