What does it mean to order an oil painting "stretched"?

[cjchaps]

I was thinking about buying some oil paintings from http://www.toucanart.com/, and as an ordering option you can order the painting stretched. What does that mean?

Here is what it says in the fact on that page:

What is a Stretcher Frame?

A Stretcher Frame is the wooden construction used to mount the canvas on in order to stretch the canvas of the oil painting thoroughly. The result is a smooth surface of the oil painting. The stretched painting can thereafter be attached to a 'real frame' or hung on the wall without any additional framing.

A stretcher frame is made out of four wooden bars which are connected at every corner by mortise and tenon joints.

I assume if I order the paintings "stretched" they will come on a "stretcher frames"?

 

[LinuxIdiot]

0mg 0mg starry night!1!!!11 I wish it wasnt 180 dollars tho 🙁

oh yea stretched no clue :\ guessing it takes out all the texture in the painting canvas?????

 

[mryellow2]

I'm going to guess that if you buy it unstretched only the canvas will come to you. Probably rolled into a tube or sandwiched between some cardboard. Funny because you only really paint onto stretched canvas anyway and the desc. says they're all handmade =p

Stretched means (as you guessed) that the painting comes on a stretcher frame.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

What an odd concept - mass-produced paintings. Interesting.

Normally pretty much all paintings on canvas are done on canvases stretched over a wooden frame. It looks to me as though, if you buy the non-stretched one, they remove the frame (and probably roll the painting up for shipping), then re-use it. Framing a non-stretched painting would be more cumbersome, so I imagine the cost of custom framing would go up accordingly. I would just buy a stretched one.