48x48 3D Pro Vintage L22U Canvas 2-1/2" #DU-4848

True 1:1 Square Proportion - 48x48 Size

48x48 is one of our most desirable square sizes.

The square is perhaps the most intriguing proportion, as it is root of all of the other proportions. It is commonly used in both photography and art. Squares are typically used as the center canvas of a triptych or as a single canvas hung at a 45° angle. The square proportion is long used with medium format professional cameras, and most photographs we see on websites and social media are based on square images. Since all sides of the canvas are the same length, your eye is drawn evenly across the surface of the painting creating a sense of harmony, balance, and a generally a pleasing visual experience. The square format is also a good choice for artists who focus on geometric shapes or patterns in their work, as the regularity of the square shape can help reinforce these elements. Some artists enjoy the challenge of working within the confines of a square format, as it forces them to think creatively resulting in intriguing compositions.

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

6x6 • 7x7 • 8x8 • 9x9 • 10x10 • 12x12 • 14x14 • 16x16 • 18x18 • 20x20 • 22x22 • 24x24 • 30x30 • 32x32 • 34x34 • 36x36 • 40x40 • 42x42 • 50x50 • 54x54 • 60x60 • 72x72

Explore Related Products to this 48x48 Size:

• Acrylic Primed Linen: Muir™ • Santa Cruz™ • Grenoble™ • Pau™
• Acrylic Primed Cotton: Monterey™ • Carmel™ • Tahoe™ • Heavy Weight 14oz cotton • Sierra™
• Alkyd / Oil Primed Linen: Malibu™ • Vintage L21C™ • Ventura™ • Versailles™ • Isola™ • Poitiers™
• Monet™ Pro 1.5 • 3D™ Pro 3.5

Vintage™ L22U Acrylic Primed Artfix Linen

Delightful hand-primed medium tooth linen with a medium tooth and texture.

• 100% Belgian Linen 5 oz.; Primed Weight 12 oz. per square yard
• Medium Weight, Open Weave, Medium Texture
• Double 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
• 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

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.

48x48 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 48x48 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!

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.

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

Oversize Box

This item is classified by UPS and Fedex as oversized, which might incur slightly higher shipping charges. To mitigate the shipping cost, we recommend ordering in quantities of 2 or 4 or more, and it travels safer too.

Masterpiece® is a family-owned business operating in California since 1965 and producing the finest Stretcher Bars in North America. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality products that can be made, and we are widely recognized as the nation's leader and trendsetter of professional quality fine-art canvas. We own several patents that make our products perform superior to any other on the market. Once you touch one of our products, you will easily discern our impeccable quality, and so will your clients and the people who will eventually acquire your art.

What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil. ♦ Friedrich Nietzsche

Henry David Thoreau, the renowned American naturalist and philosopher, was a man who embraced the virtue of individuality. Living by Walden Pond, he sought a deeper connection to nature and a life of simplicity, away from societal pressures. Thoreau's words are an anthem for those who feel out of step with the mainstream, suggesting that sometimes, the path less traveled is not a sign of being lost but of marching to the beat of one's own distinct rhythm.

This sentiment is especially poignant. Throughout our careers, we face moments when our visions diverge from prevailing trends or expectations. Yet, it is often in these moments of deviation that brilliance is birthed. Our unique perspectives, experiences, and the drummers we hear give rise to artworks that might defy conventions but stand out with a voice that is unmistakably ours. So, when the world expects us to move in one direction, and we feel the pull of another, we should remember Thoreau's wisdom. It's not about keeping pace but about honoring the rhythm that resonates within us, and sharing that unique cadence with the world through our art.

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We found this intriguing quote, wrote insightful context, as well as created this unique image of Friedrich Nietzsche to enrich your experience and inspire. Inspire us with your next painting!

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.