42x68 3D Pro Versailles Canvas 2-1/2" #DL-4268

True Golden Mean Proportion - 42x68 Size

This 42x68 size is one of our Golden Mean sizes, considered the most pleasing shape to the eye!

The Golden Ratio, also known as the Golden Mean or Divine Proportion, is considered the most aesthetically pleasing proportion to the human eye. This proportion has been used in art and architecture for thousands of years, and countless examples can be found in nature, plant life, galaxies, and the human body. The Golden Mean can also be used as a guide to arrange your subjects on the canvas in concert with other Golden Mean shapes like an ellipse, star, triangle, and spiral, resulting in intriguing compositions. Many famous artists, such as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Mondrian, Botticelli, Dali, and Seurat, have used this proportion in their art, and many contemporary artists continue to use it exclusively. The Golden Ratio can even produce some mathematically intriguing relationships that relate directly to art, architecture, science, and human intrigue. If you're looking for a challenge and inspiration, consider using a canvas in the proportion of the Golden Mean to create a composition that will come alive in the most intriguing ways!

Explore other sizes in this same 34:21 aspect ratio:

7x11 • 10x16 • 12x19 • 15x24 • 16x26 • 18x29 • 20x32 • 23x37 • 26x42 • 28x45 • 30x48 • 31x50 • 33x53 • 36x58 • 37x60 • 39x63 • 46x74 • 47x76 • 50x81 • 52x84 • 60x96 • 60x97

Explore Related Products to this 42x68 Size:

• Alkyd / Oil Primed Linen: Malibu™ • Vintage L21C™ • Ventura™ • Isola™ • Poitiers™
• Raw Unprimed Linen: Torrey Pines™ • Mandalay™
• Acrylic Primed Linen: Muir™ • Vintage L22U™ • Santa Cruz™ • Saint-Cloud™ • Grenoble™ • Pau™
• Acrylic Primed Cotton: Monterey™ • Carmel™ • Tahoe™ • Heavy Weight 14oz cotton • Sierra™ • Shasta™
• Monet™ Pro 1.5

Versailles™ Oil Primed Artfix Linen

Choice oil primed linen canvas with more substantial body. It has a warm golden hue and is an excellent painting surface, even for larger sizes.

• 100% Belgian Linen 6.1 oz.; Primed Weight 14.6 oz. per square yard
• Medium Weight, Closed Weave, Medium Texture
• Double Sized and Double Primed with acid-free archival quality oil primed ground
• Impenetrable ground prevents oil paint from leaching through and harming the canvas
• For oils, alkyds, and water miscible oil paints
• Linen has natural oils that prevent disintegration over time.

3D™ Pro 2.5 Stretcher Bar • 1/2" Canvas Clearance

1/2" Canvas Clearance 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.

• Produces a 2.5" deep stretched canvas (Actual depth is slightly thinner)
• 1.25" wide Stretcher Bar
• 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

Finger Jointed Wood is not meant for Stretcher Bars

Solid wood makes the most dependable Stretcher Bar, because one homogeneous wood member is going to behave similarly across the entire length of the Bar. Whereas, with finger-jointed wood is made-up of multiple pieces of wood, sometimes on the actual joint itself, presenting multiple points of failure which no one can control.

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 add or reduce value to your final painting. The fact is, you don't want problems, and finger joints only increase that risk of the wood falling apart in the future.

The glue used to bind finger joints is a water based adhesive and when that wood is exposed to high humidity environments, particularly with exterior walls, the glue joints can give-up. 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.

42x68 2.5" Deep Edge Heavy Frame Offers Maximum Support!

• Drawing depicts the exact frame construction, not the proportion
• 2.5" Deep Edge K2 Heavy Stretcher Bars are precision machined with a unique double tongue-and-groove corner joint that provides rock-solid torsional rigidity that resists warping or twisting, which is an important benefit for such a deep edge canvas
• Each corner has a diagonal oriented Diamond Brace that interlocks with the Stretcher Bars and superior support and rigidity to help keep the frame square
• Two super strong 3/4" thick keyable braces and two cross braces (all 3.25" wide) provide the maximum possible support for this 42x68 frame; Cross Braces are permanently installed in the frame, but canvas tension may be increased by tapping-in the keys or wedges that slightly expand the size of the frame
• The Stretcher Bars have an proprietary utility groove on the inside perimeter of the frame which is used to attach braces and other optional frame supports
• The Masterpiece braces feature an exclusive system that allows you to increase the tension to the middle of the frame, where the tension is needed the most; it's so unique it earned us a patent
• Our state-of-the-art cross braces attach the ends of the cross braces into the (grooved) sides of the braces, which creates a superior and robust system of interlocking cross braces
• To increase canvas tension: 1) remove any staples in the corners and those that retain the brace keys in the middle, 2) tap all of the expansion keys further into their respective slots, 3) tighten and re-staple the canvas in the corners

Canvas Tension is in Your Control

In dry climates or air conditioned environments, the lack of moisture in the air causes wood frames to shrink and the canvas fibers to narrow and elongate making the canvas more slack and resulting in a loss of canvas tension. In some instances, the canvas could have waves on the surface resulting in an unsightly viewing experience.

Our 3D™ Pro 2.5 professional frames provide the functionality for you to slightly expand the size of the frame in the corners and the middle of the canvas, thereby increasing canvas tension all across the surface. The difference between a loose canvas and a tight canvas is just 1/8" of an inch, so a small adjustment using our corner and brace keys makes an important difference in canvas tension.

• Helps to prevent waves that occur in a loose canvas
• Increase canvas tension by tapping-in the corner and brace keys
• True professional class canvases make it possible for you to adjust the canvas tension

Cross Braces Make it Tighter

A tightly stretched canvas on an un-braced frame overpowers the Stretcher Bars causing them to bow inward and thereby lose tension. Sometimes that bow can expose a space in picture frames.

When a canvas is stretched on a properly supported frame, the cross-braces prevent the Bars from bowing thereby achieving maximum canvas tension. To increase the canvas tension even more, simply tap the corner and brace keys further in their slots. Properly supported frames provide you with the control over the canvas tension of your canvas and painting.

Sustainably Managed Forests Inhale and Exhale

The world's forests are essential to human survival. Forests inhale carbon dioxide for the earth, and exhale oxygen essential for life. When we speak of the sustainable forest strategy of ensuring that more timber will exist in the same forest land than exists today, this is the only viable plan for the future of humanity. For this reason, we use only lumber from the sustainable forests of Oregon, Washington, and California, where thereÕs more standing timber today than last century!

MuseumWrap™ Stretching Technique

With more than a half a century of American engineering, Masterpiece® designs and builds its own proprietary stretching equipment that enables us to produce the finest and most tightly-stretched canvas on the market.

• Drum-tight stretch!
• Up to 50% tighter than other methods
• Balanced tension across the surface
• Uncut folded corners make it possible to remove and re-stretch canvas on the same size frame
• Usually the corner folds are on the long sides

Requires Truck Delivery

This size will be shipped on an LTL freight truck, which is safe and reliable. Our shipping cost estimator cannot possibly contemplate all the cost factors with truck shipments, so once you place your order and before we do anything, we will review and inform you if your actual cost is higher or lower. Ordering larger quantities usually does not increase the freight cost, so you get a better value by ordering larger quantities.

Conditions that impact cost are extra large products, or if your delivery address is out-of-the-way, or in a school, university, church, hotel, shopping mall, or farm. Shipping to a business address lowers cost. Contact us with any questions.

The trucking company will contact you by phone, and arrange a 4 hour window for delivery, so be sure to pick-up strange numbers during the time of delivery. Someone must be present to receive and sign for this delivery; they will not just leave it at your door. We rarely have issues, but if you notice a problem, please document it on the delivery receipt before you sign it, and take photos.

With over five decades of commitment, Masterpiece® stands as a testament to unrivaled canvas craftsmanship in North America. Choosing the right canvas is an investment not just in materials, but in the future value and longevity of your artwork. Make choices today that stand the test of time and reflect your dedication as an artist.

Shadows cannot see themselves in the mirror of the sun. ♦ Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin's metaphorical insights often straddle the line between art and philosophy, and this statement is no exception. Through this poetic lens, Gauguin seems to highlight the inherent limitations of perception and understanding. Shadows, ephemeral and intangible, are by their very nature devoid of substance when exposed to the brilliance of the sun. Similarly, certain elements of our artistic endeavors remain elusive when directly confronted or overanalyzed.

Every artist knows the struggle of translating a vivid imagination onto canvas. Sometimes, the raw emotions or intricate visions we hold are best expressed not by direct illumination, but by the subtle interplay of light and darkness, the nuanced dance of what is revealed and what remains hidden. For us, it's a reminder that not every detail needs to be explicitly shown; sometimes, the most potent emotions are conveyed through implications and nuances.

As we immerse ourselves in our work, it's worth pondering the spaces between the overt and the subtle. The realms Gauguin alludes to—those areas untouched by the sun's direct light—are where true depth often resides. In our pursuit to bring life to our art, it's crucial to embrace both the brilliance of clear vision and the mystery of shadows. Only then can we hope to capture the full spectrum of human experience and artistic expression.

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We hope you will be inspired by the wisdom, and our interpretation thereof, of Paul Gauguin, plus we made this unique little portrait to begin the creative process. Time to start your creative process!