The history of Canson® spans nearly half a millennium since the factory was born in 1557 in the small hamlet of Vidalon, now a neighborhood in Annonay Ardeche, and developed through the Montgolfier family. Leading experts in the paper, the Montgolfier also interested in scientific studies and in 1782 built the first hot air balloon, whose envelope is out of their paper mills. In 1798, Alexandrine de Montgolfier brings the dot paper factory of his father, Manufacture Royale recognized since 1784, when she married Barthélémy Barou de la Lombardière de Canson.
Over generations, Canson® has managed to retain the expertise of master craftsmen stationers, while continuing to innovate: tracing paper in 1807, Mi-Teintes®, the first dyed paper , a patented photographic paper in 1865 and used by the pioneers of photography, the famous school "pochette" in 1947, Canson® Infinity, a range dedicated to inkjet printing for editing and art photography in 2008 ...
Over the centuries, the greatest artists and designers have used the Canson® papers: Delacroix, Van Gogh, Degas, Matisse, Picasso, Dali, Warhol, Jean-Michel Alberola, Toguo, Philippe Starck, Yan Pei-Ming ... Canson® has created special links with them up to imagine special papers for Ingres and Maillol, or by giving to them support and visibility, whether they be great artists, designers, architects, fashion designers, cartoonists, photographers and amateur enthusiasts as well as children and schoolchildren.
Always making its papers in Annonay France and exporting to over 150 countries, Canson® is the global market leader of Fine Arts papers, a major actor of conservation products, school and leisure drawing papers, as well as technical and digital printing papers.
