56x73 Elite Professional 1.5" Deep B2 Stretcher Frame Kit

Elite™ Professional 1.5" Deep B2 Bar • 1/2" Canvas Clearance

A Canvas Clearance of 1/2" is the space between the Bar and the canvas. Generally speaking, more clearance reduces the risk of the canvas touching the wood and creating unsightly lines during painting. Our design provides the optimal clearance so as not to impact your painting, but still leaving enough wood to the maximize strength of the Stretcher Bar.

No Finger Joints!

Solid Wood is far superior to finger jointed wood, which is many small pieces glued together, each with varying grain densities that absorb and shed moisture at varying rates, expanding and contracting non-uniformly as environmental conditions change, and causing the wood to bow and the finger joints to eventually fail.

A single homogeneous kiln-dried solid wood Stretcher Bar outperforms and outlasts a finger jointed Bar whose sole purpose is to save the manufacturer cost, not contribute to the archival value of artwork intended to last a millennium. As a manufacturer, Masterpiece® does its part to conserve as much wood as possible, and still provide a quality product that will out-perform any other in the marketplace.

• Super strong Elite™ B2™ Stretcher Bar is 50% stronger than most others in its class
• For this 56x73 large size frame, the frame provides the ultimate foundation for your art with increased strength and stability
• Produces a 1.5" deep stretched canvas
• 2-1/4" wide Stretcher Bars
• All Bars have an exclusive groove on the inside perimeter of the frame to which cross braces and Diamond Corner Braces attach
• Solid Ponderosa Pine or Fir from the Pacific Northwest

What is Sustainable Forestry?

To a forester, the term "sustainable" could mean exercising industry adopted forestry practices to maintain a forest indefinitely. To a logger, the process of proper care for the trees remaining after a harvest. To a landowner, their interest may lie in keeping their forest in the family. And to those of involved in the process of making and using wood-based art supplies, it can mean promoting and supporting an industry dedicated to the preservation of our precious natural resource. We can all do our part to care for our national forests.

Specially Dried and Heat Treated Lumber

Our wood is handpicked from a curated group of environmentally responsible lumber mills in the Pacific Northwest. By adhering to our precise drying and heat-treatment standards, these mills produce lumber with nearly half the moisture you'd find in common home improvement outlets or lumber yards. This meticulous process not only enhances the wood's strength—minimizing risks of cracks, splits, or bends—but also elevates its dimensional stability. Such quality, despite its premium, is paramount in creating professional canvases designed to uphold the sanctity of your cherished art throughout the years.

62x79 is the Canvas Size Needed for this 56x73 Frame

Please note that you will need a canvas that is at least 6 Inches larger than the actual frame size to ensure proper stretching. This will provide ample material to stretch the canvas and attach it to the back of the frame. If you prefer to attach the canvas from the edge of the stretcher frame, you can reduce the size of your canvas by approximately 3/4" all the way around the frame. This will allow you to paint on the edge of the canvas and hang your artwork without needing a separate picture frame. And, if you ever need to remove the canvas from the frame and re-attach it, you'll have enough material to do that too.

From the heart of California, Masterpiece® has been weaving a legacy since 1965, curating the best Stretcher Bars North America has witnessed. Our unwavering dedication to quality and innovation has cast us in the limelight as the trendsetting stalwarts in the realm of fine-art canvases. The patents we hold are not just certificates but validations of our pursuit of perfection. Engage with our creations and feel the promise of unmatched quality, a promise that resonates with your clients and every future beholder of your masterpiece.

I want to grasp the intangible. It's very difficult because you must have a great precision of spirit to get at that. ♦ Nicolas de Staël

The intricacies of Nicolas de Staël's abstract landscapes and textured compositions reveal a profound yearning: the pursuit of capturing the elusive. He wasn't merely interested in the visual representation of the world, but rather in encapsulating its very essence, its intangibility. This pursuit, while undeniably challenging, represents a universal struggle many artists can relate to. The desire to capture emotions, moods, or fleeting moments requires not just skill but a deep sensitivity and attunement to one's surroundings.

When attempting to seize the intangible through our art, we often find that the conventional tools and techniques might fall short. It's in these moments that our unique artistic voice must shine through, guiding us beyond the evident, into the realm of sensation and emotion. Nicolas understood this delicate balance. It's not just about mastering the brush or the palette, but about refining our spirit, aligning it with our intent, and allowing it to lead us towards that intricate dance between the seen and the unseen, the tangible and the intangible.

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To enhance your creative exploration of our site, we offer the insightful wisdom of Nicolas de Staël, our interpretation, and little one-of-a-kind portrait that we created. Now go paint!