academy board

academy board.
A type of cardboard sheet used as a support for painting, especially in oils. It is made of sheets of paper sized and pressed together, treated with a ground, and sometimes embossed with an imitation canvas grain. Academy board was introduced in about 1850 and because of its relative cheapness was popular in art schools and with amateur painters, although it was also used by professional artists for sketches and studies. It has now largely been superseded by canvas board.