Research for the Hemp Initiative revealed that canvas – a traditional support for artists paintings – was first produced from hemp, Cannabis sativa (Linnaeus), “canvas” being a mispronunciation of ‘cannabis’ attributed to the Dutch.

A hardwearing fibre and one of the strongest organic fibres, cannabis hemp was one of the first plants cultivated by humans for multiple uses including cloth. Art conservation work showed that around 1820, just before the cotton gin really took off, a large proportion of master artists used hemp as a support.

What is often referred to generically as “linen” would have been hemp, especially bed clothes and under garments. Cotton and real linen were as expensive as silk.

Hemp rag was the major feedstock for “rag paper” until the 1870s, collected by the ‘rag and bone men’. After the 1820s hemp rag declined being replaced by cotton.

Fabriano grew fields of hemp to supply its paper manufacturing.

The Arsenal in Venice was used to store the hemp cordage for the Venetian navy.

The availability of hemp is due to it being favoured by mariners. Passed through smoke from a bitumen fire, its waterproofing and ability to resist rot is enhanced for all manner of maritime uses, sails, cordage, uniforms, caulking, etc. Even the seeds making a good porridge and the oil useful in fine paints and timber finishes. The first usage for sail is often traced to Nordic Vikings who exported their ship building skills to the rest of Europe through conquest and trade.

The first usage for cordage and paper originating in China. It was the attempt to supplant hemp organic products with petroleum synthetic products that saw it hemp demonised in the 1920s and 1930s by the motor vehicle petroleum and associated corporations including the Hearst “yellow journalism” news papers. Hemp oil can be substituted for diesel fuel with some minor engine modification.

Having found a suppliers of hemp fabric in Australia I tested a variety of weaves and weights to find those that took collagen (rabbit skin) glue well and did not buckle from uneven tension on warp and weft weave. I found a supplier of heavy weight 100% hemp, an upholstery fabric that took glue well, retained its surface shape, and produced a very adequate painting support.

An illustration short clip of how effective the hemp/rabbit skin glue combination on strainer bars (fixed corners). The drum tightness is a pleasure to paint on, https://youtube.com/shorts/RWtjfulsslc. Painting examples are below.

Cotton “duck” is a generic mispronunciation of the Dutch word for sailing canvas – ‘doek’. While cotton fabric is softer it is also less resistant to wear and rot. The growing of cotton requires more inputs, fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides, water and fuel for machinery.

The benefits of hemp as a rotation crop are well understood and well documented. Impediments to greater exploitation of hemp for industrial uses rests on persistent falsehoods and misinformation designed to marginalise hemp production and product development.