Montblanc, for over 25 years, has recognised and celebrated the invaluable contribution of modern day patrons of the arts with its prestigious Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award, and coinciding with the Award, is the commission of a unique limited edition writing instrument, inspired by a historical patron of the arts to honour the contemporary ones.
Peggy Guggenheim was a wealthy American lady who met many artists in Paris and who financially supported the artists from whom she also collected works of art. She was married to the Franco-German painter Max Ernst between 1942 and 1946. Peggy Guggenheim lived in the Palazzo Vernier dei Leoni until her death in 1979. The Palazzo was opened to the public as a museum after her death in Padua. In the last years of her life she had focused less on collecting and more on displaying her possessions.
This year, the Patron of Art Edition pays tribute to the outstanding legacy of one of the most influential art collectors and exhibitors of the 20th century – Peggy Guggenheim. The eponymous founder of the Guggenheim Museum was a supporter of many young abstract and surrealist artists, whose works she showed in Europe and America, and thus, credited to have shaped the international careers of some of the 20th centuries’ most successful artists, which includes Kandinsky, Pollock, and Ernst.
Limited Edition 4810
The Peggy Guggenheim Limited Edition 4810 features a black lacquered cap and barrel decorated with platinum-coated Art Deco patterns. The cone is adorned with a red lacquer spiral inlay, representing the striped mooring poles of Venice, where she finally settled and exhibited her collection at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. The cap ring is embossed with lion’s heads in reference to her Venetian palace and the lion of Saint Mark. The medium nib is rhodium-coated 18K gold with a special paw engraving, in memory of her adored Lhasa Apsos dogs. The final touch is the iconic Montblanc snowcap finial.
Limited Edition 888
The Montblanc Patron of Art Peggy Guggenheim Limited Edition 888 takes inspiration from the art that she discovered and promoted. A geometric art deco-inspired pattern adorns the red lacquered and ruthenium-coated cap and barrel. The engravings of lion heads on the red gold cap ring are inspired by the exterior of the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, her home for 30 years, which was decorated extensively with this symbol of Venice.
The cap ring has been embellished with a set of 10 garnets in the eyes of the lions, while the red gold and translucent red lacquer body features a brilliant cut diamond ring at the end. The paws engraved on the Au750 solid gold nib recall the special affection she had for her 14 Lhasa Apso dogs, which not only accompanied her on her gondola trips down the Grand Canal, but were laid to rest next to their eccentric owner in the grounds of her palazzo.
Limited Edition 81
The Montblanc Patron of Art Peggy Guggenheim Limited Edition 81 is a personal homage to her life from her arrival in Europe to her later life in Venice. Limited to only 81 pieces, the number is also a reference to the age at which she passed away in 1979.
Created in the Montblanc Artisan Atelier from the finest materials and shaped by highly skilled master craftsmen, the design of the writing instrument is inspired by the art deco style that surrounded the collector when she arrived in Paris in the 20’s.
The skeletonised Au750 solid champagne-gold structure of the barrel mirrors the dramatic entrance gates to the Guggenheim Collection in Venice, created by the prolific modernist sculptor Claire Falkenstein. The lion head clip design refers to the Lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of the city, where she chose to house her collection, while the pattern on the cap ring recalls certain graphic details on the front of the Guggenheim’s Venetian palazzo-museum. Its red lacquer inlay spiral is inspired by the iconic striped mooring poles lining the canals of Venice.
Crowning the cap is the Montblanc emblem, crafted in white marble, a choice of material that mirrors the palazzo’s distinctive marble facade. The skeleton champagne-gold cap with its black lacquer underlay is a reference to Guggenheim’s very particular style – and her penchant for the zebra pattern, seen generously throughout her palazzo.
Launch 2016
Limitation:
Fountain Pen 4810
Fountain Pen 888
Fountain Pen 81
