17 Inch Monet Pro Stretcher Bar Cross Brace Kit 1-1/2" Deep #MK-17

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.

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 Monet™ Pro 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.

Sustainable Forests for Future Generations

Sustainable forestry practices go beyond just planting and harvesting trees. They also involve careful planning, monitoring, and management to ensure the long-term health and productivity of the forest. By using lumber from sustainably managed forests, we can support these important practices and help to ensure that our planet's forests remain healthy and productive for generations to come.

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 6 Inches of canvas beyond the size of your frame.

For example, if you were to stretch a 17x76 frame size, which happens to be a custom proportion, your canvas should be about 6 x 23. 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.

Masterpiece® is a family-owned business operating in California since 1965 and producing the finest Stretcher Bars in North America. We deliver the highest quality and highest performing products in the business. 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'll immediately recognize our impeccable quality—and more importantly, so will your clients and those who acquire your art

One should not only paint what one sees; one should also paint what one sees when one closes one's eyes. ♦ Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas, a masterful artist of the 19th century, was an integral figure of the Impressionist movement, although he often detached himself from the label. Known for his ballet scenes and portraits, Degas demonstrated a keen eye for capturing fleeting moments and the intricate dynamics of human anatomy. However, his perspective on art was not merely rooted in the external world. Degas believed that the artist's inner vision—the images, emotions, and dreams that emerge in the mind's eye—held equal, if not greater, importance.

For many, the act of creation extends beyond the replication of reality. It involves exploring the depths of the subconscious, where memories merge with imagination. Degas's statement challenges us to tap into these hidden reservoirs of creativity. It's a realm where logic gives way to emotion, and where the boundaries of reality blur into abstract thought. By combining the tangible with the intangible, artists offer a holistic representation of their experience. This interplay between the seen and the unseen, the real and the imagined, provides depth to our work, allowing us to create pieces that evoke emotion and ignite the imagination of our audience.

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We hope to inspire your art with this wonderful quote and our interpretation along with our own one-of-a-kind portrait of Edgar Degas..got to love it!

Tight'n'Up™ Liquid Canvas Retensioner

One of our most appreciated products helps make your canvas tighter! Stretching a canvas tightly can be a challenge. Our Frame Kits include the Corner and Brace Keys that you will need to add tension, but Tight'n'Up™ Liquid Canvas Re-Tensioner is a way that you can use to add tension to the canvas without needed to use the keys. It canvas 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. 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.