26x52 3D Pro Monterey Canvas 2-1/2" #DM-2652

True 2:1 Domino Proportion - 26x52 Size

An intriguing Domino size!

The 2:1 aspect ratio, that we call the domino proportion, also offers a unique canvas for artists to play with the perception of space and depth within their compositions. The elongated format allows for the inclusion of foreground, middle ground, and background elements, creating a sense of distance and scale that draws the viewer's eye into the artwork. This aspect ratio has been used by artists throughout history, from ancient Egyptian tomb paintings to Renaissance frescoes to contemporary photography. Its versatility and timelessness make it a classic choice for artists seeking to create dynamic and engaging compositions.

Explore other sizes in this same 2:1 aspect ratio:

6x12 • 7x14 • 8x16 • 9x18 • 10x20 • 12x24 • 14x28 • 15x30 • 16x32 • 18x36 • 20X40 • 22x44 • 24x48 • 30x60 • 32x64 • 34x68 • 36x72 • 38x76 • 40x80 • 42x84 • 45x90 • 48x96

Explore Related Products to this 26x52 Size:

• Acrylic Primed Cotton: Carmel™ • Tahoe™ • Heavy Weight 14oz cotton • Sierra™
• Acrylic Primed Linen: Muir™ • Vintage L22U™ • Santa Cruz™ • Saint-Cloud™ • Grenoble™ • Pau™
• Alkyd / Oil Primed Linen: Malibu™ • Vintage L21C™ • Ventura™ • Versailles™ • Isola™ • Poitiers™
• Vincent™ Pro 7/8 • Monet™ Pro 1.5

Monterey™ 7oz Acrylic Primed Cotton

An all-around great canvas, extraordinary value, and our top selling canvas surface across all our products. It is our premium quality all-purpose canvas suitable for most all techniques.

• 100% Cotton 7 oz.; Primed Weight 10.5 oz. per square yard
• Medium Weight, Medium Weave, Medium Texture
• Sized and Double Primed with acid-free archival quality acrylic gesso
• Impenetrable ground prevents oil paint from leaching through and harming the canvas
• For acrylics, oils, alkyds, and water miscible oil paints

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

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.

26x52 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
• One super strong 3/4" thick keyable brace and one cross brace (all 3.25" wide) provide the maximum possible support for this 26x52 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.

Tree Replanting - Essential to Sustainably Managed Forests

Harvesting timber provides humans with an essential natural resource, but replanting trees at a rate higher than a harvest is a key component in humanity's effort to guarantee a healthy forest for the future. Increasing our number of trees is just as essential to our economy, as the harvest itself, which is why we select only timber harvested from responsibly managed forests.

Specially Dried and Heat Treated Lumber

We source our wood from a select group of top-tier environmentally conscious lumber mills in the Pacific Northwest. These mills specially dry and heat-treat the lumber to our specifications, resulting in about half the moisture content compared to wood from typical home improvement centers or lumber yards. This process makes the wood stronger, reducing the likelihood of cracking, splitting, or warping. While the wood we use comes at a higher cost, it ensures a more dimensionally stable end product. This stability is crucial for crafting fine professional canvases that support your invaluable art over time.

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

The canvas you choose is the foundation for your painting, but also serves as symbol of the quality that you as an artist stand for, and reflect on your own brand. We serve as your silent partner to create your next masterpiece. You "wow" them from the front, while we "wow" them underneath.

In my opinion, old painters did not succeed in portraying truth because they did not go about it directly. They rendered the effects instead of the things. They proceeded from man to nature instead of going from nature to man. ♦ Emile Zola

Emile Zola, primarily recognized for his literary contributions, often engaged in discussions about art, particularly given his association with the Impressionist movement. His insight here touches upon a profound shift in how artists perceived and portrayed the world around them.

The classical approach, as Zola observed, often prioritized idealized forms and symbols. This tradition saw nature through the lens of human interpretation, sometimes diluting the raw, untamed beauty of the natural world. Zola championed a more direct approach, suggesting that to capture the genuine essence of a subject, artists needed to start with nature itself. In essence, we should let nature guide our hand and our perceptions, not the other way around.

For contemporary artists, this perspective remains a powerful reminder. As we approach our subjects, be it landscapes, portraits, or abstract forms, we must strive to see beyond our preconceptions. By allowing nature, in its unfiltered state, to shape our interpretations, we invite a more authentic, undiluted truth into our art, forging a connection that speaks not just to us, but through us.

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Echoing the timeless spirit of artistry, we bring you this quote paired with our beautiful portrait of Emile Zola that we created. Let your colors on the canvas speak!

Tight'n'Up™ Liquid Canvas Retensioner

While all of our Masterpiece® Pro canvases are stretched very tightly and our frames have a built-in method to increase tension, we have another method to add canvas tension. Tight'n'Up™ Liquid Canvas Retensioner (sold separately) can be sprayed on the back of a canvas to repair most canvas tension issues.

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.