Fredrix® was founded in 1868 by E.H. Friedrichs. Although, he spent much of his time on trains and coaches drumming up business, he was much more than a salesman. He was a businessman, a chemist, an inventor, an innovator and he was the first in America to manufacture artist canvas for the trade.
Although the art of manufacturing artist canvas has changed since the 1800s, the product Fredrix makes today is very similar to the canvas they made over 140 years ago. Their best selling canvases are universally primed for oil, acrylic or alkyd paints, and they still prime our finest canvas the old fashioned way... picked, pumiced and primed by hand with oil based ground.
Whether your choice is a machine primed canvas with universal acrylic gesso or hand primed canvas with natural glue sizing and oil based ground, you can trust Fredrix® to provide you with your best overall painting experience.
PANEL PACKS: Fredrix Canvas Panels are great for students. The surface texture provides a very definite paint-gripping "tooth" with minimum paint absorption, a perfect support for painting in all media. The sides are completely turned under and glued to prevent fraying and separation. The entire area of canvas is firmly glued to the board. The sizing is acid free.
ARCHIVAL CANVAS BOARD: Fredrix Archival Cotton Canvas Board is a professional grade, archival painting surface with medium texture canvas mounted on an acid free board. Good for acrylic, oils and mixed media.
ARCHIVAL LINEN BOARD: Fredrix Archival Linen Canvas Board is a professional grade, archival painting surface with medium texture canvas mounted on an acid free board. Good for acrylic and oil paints.
ARCHIVAL OIL PRIMED LINEN BOARD: Fredrix Archival Oil Primed Linen Canvas Board is a professional grade, archival painting surface with medium texture canvas mounted on an acid free board. It is hand primed the old fashioned way. For oil painting.
Fredrix Red Label Canvas features the finest quality pure cotton duck, medium textured canvas. It is double-primed with acid-free acrylic gesso for use with oil or acrylic painting. The canvas is stapled onto the back of standard stretcher bars. Paint on all four edges and hang it with or without a frame. All sizes larger than 24" x 36" include single or double bracing for added support.
Tara Fredrix Stretched Canvases are available in larger sizes -- contact sales@wetpaintart.com for shipping & pricing.
WATERCOLOR BOARDS: Fredrix Watercolor Canvas Archival Board is a 100% cotton artist canvas which combines the texture of a natural, woven fabric with a specially formulated gesso designed for all water-based paints. The canvas is mounted with acid-free adhesive onto tempered hardboard that is guaranteed not to warp or rot. It is versatile and durable. You can lightly lift out pigment or completely wash out your painting surface without damaging the canvas surface.
WATERCOLOR STRETCHED CANVAS: Fredrix Pre-Stretched Watercolor Canvas is a 100% cotton artist canvas which combines the texture of a natural, woven fabric with a specially formulated gesso designed for all water-based paints. It is versatile and durable. It will not tear like paper and you can lightly lift out pigment or completely wash out your painting surface without damaging the canvas surface. The canvas is stapled onto the back of standard stretcher bars. Paint on all four edges and hang it with or without a frame.
Chemist & inventor E. H. Fredrichs developed the tongue & groove style stretcher bar in 1875 & later was the first in America to manufacture canvas specifically for artists. It was from this foundation that the Fredrix company was built in 1868.
Fast-forward 100 years to 1966. From an artists’ brush background, Wally Klarman & John Benator started a new artists’ canvas company called Tara. In 1971 they purchased the Fredrix company & moved it from New York City to Lawrenceville, GA. When Tara acquired Fredrix they also acquired the Fredrix Master Primer who had been applying the oil priming to fine Belgian linen since the early 1930’s! This man trained the current Master Primer, Jimmy Lyons, who has been with Tara Fredrix since 1973. So important is Mr. Lyons’ craft that when his family needed to move from suburban Lawrenceville to rural Barnesville in 1980, Tara Fredrix moved their oil priming facilities to accommodate him!
Not just a Master Primer, Mr. Lyons began preaching in 1988 & was ordained in the Baptist Church in 1990. He currently pastors two churches in central Georgia. In addition to his typical congregational & Sunday duties, Jimmy preaches over 80 days of Revival through out the state each year.
Today Michael Benator, John’s nephew, is the President of Tara Fredrix, continuing a lineage that has maintained a commitment to quality artists’ products for 140 years.
· Established 1976 · Creative Supplies for Creative People 
