Reading and writing are the foundations of our culture and society and are things that should be accessible to everyone. Despite this, millions of people through the world, in particular children, are not able to write. Montblanc has teamed up with UNICEF to dedicate itself to this major problem in a joint campaign “Sign up for the right to write”. In a worldwide initiative, international celebrities from politics, business, arts, culture and sports will be committing themselves to fight against illiteracy.
As part of this project, three internationally recognized designers have designed highly collectable artworks in a Limited Edition of 4810 pieces, each for the MB 149. The three are celebrated American artist Tom Sachs, prominent French interior designer Andrée Putman, and internationally renowned German-American architect Helmut Jahn. Using their distinctive design languages, they have come up with three very personal creations, which redefine packaging as a work of art in its own right.
Tom Sachs
New York based artist Tom Sachs has long been a recognized member of the international art scene. Using a combination of inventiveness, teamwork and sophisticated craft techniques, he draws on the American way of life and the glittering consumer world of industrial nations to create often controversial sculptures, highlighting the hidden depths and less appealing sides of reality.
Tom Sachs was born on July 26, 1966 in New York City. He graduated from Bennington College in Vermont before studying architecture in London and furniture design in Los Angeles.
Sachs has built numerous space-related sculptures throughout his career, such as Crawler and Lunar Module. His obsession with space, and specifically the Apollo Space Program of the 60s and 70s, culminated with his Space Program in 2007.
And because no engineering project is more complex and pervasive than the corporate ecosystem, he’s done versions of those, too, including a McDonald’s he built using plywood, glue, assorted kitchen appliances. He’s also done Hello Kitty and her friends in materials ranging from foamcore to bronze.
Seeking different ways of translating his interest in consumer objects, the artist partnered with Nike in 2012 to produce the NikeCraft Mars Yard sneaker.
Sachs continues to live and work in New York. Today, his works are held in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Goetz Collection in Munich, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, among others.
Tom Sachs Limited Edition / Meisterstück 149 Fountain Pen
Tom Sachs – A contemporary American artist whose work both addresses and participates in the fetishization of consumer culture. Employing a variety of materials, including foamcore, bronze, plywood, automotive paint, and glue, Sachs often reconstructs or repurposes luxurious or iconic brands and objects from history and popular culture.
Tom Sachs has packaged the Montblanc Meisterstück 149 in a signed multiple made of the Kapaline board for which he is noted and featuring the Montblanc and UNICEF logos. The choice of material and style of this packaging as artwork thus reflect Sachs’ typical manner of working.
Several renowned figures were chosen to design special cases for the 149 and this is arguably one of the most desirable. The foam board presentation case, designed by the New York artist is where both the pen and ink are housed.
The Tom Sachs Special Edition was released in 2004 in a Limited Edition of 4810 piece, in support of UNICEF’s “Right to write” program.
