Born in the Netherlands in 1853, Vincent van Gogh is among the most popular painters of the late 19th century, and his visionary ideas are now seen as precursors to modernism. His path of self-discovery began in 1869 with his first job as an art dealer, but it wasn’t until 1880, that he decided to become an artist. In just over a decade he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterised by bold, symbolic colours, and dramatic, impulsive and highly expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. Only one of his paintings was known by name to have been sold during his lifetime. Van Gogh became famous after his suicide, aged 37, which followed years of poverty and mental illness.
There are five limited edition series within the new Van Gogh collection, each paying homage to the various personal and artistic periods in the enigmatic artist’s life. And here’s where the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam assisted: in keeping each detail of the pens true to Van Gogh’s work and biography, acting as guardian of his heritage.
Limited Edition 8
This edition especially emphasizes his time in Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise with design details reflecting the breath-taking blue skies and swirling brush style that make “Wheatfield with Crows” so powerful. “Wheatfield with Crows” depicts a deep blue sky contrasting with the bright yellow of a wheat field dotted with black birds. The jewel-like quality of this sky is captured in the blue lacquer artwork on the solid Au 750 signature gold cap and barrel, which is partly set with brilliant-cut diamonds and enhanced with swirling engravings that echo the sweeping movements of Vincent’s brush over the canvas. The sky imagery continues on the cap top, where a hand-painted field of intense blue lacquer edged with brilliant-cut diamonds frames the Montblanc diamond at the center in a solid Au 750 signature gold setting. In an homage to Van Gogh’s love of natural landscapes, the cap features an elaborate handcrafted marquetry design inlaid onto solid Au 750 white gold, rhodium-coated and composed of tiny pieces of mother-of-pearl, sycamore, tulip tree, beetle elytra and straw – a nod to Vincent’s golden wheat fields. Sapphires, Paraiba tourmalines and brilliant-cut diamonds set around the marquetry inlay intensify its vividness. His signature, ‘Vincent’, engraved and filled with blue lacquer, adorns the barrel ring below the portrait. His palette knife inspired the rhodium-coated clip, while his sweeping brushwork is immortalized in the blue lacquer of the cap top. Furthermore, his fondness for pipe smoking, to which he referred in many of his self-portraits, is captured in a subtle detail of the clip: the upper part is shaped like a pipe’s bowl and is adorned with a blue sapphire. One of his portraits, “Self Portrait with Straw Hat”, is the inspiration for the engraving on the forepart. The image embossed on the Au 750 solid gold nib immortalizes Vincent’s painting “Almond Blossom”. Its Japanese-inspired style can be traced back to a fashionable admiration of Japanese art known at the time as Japonisme. The overall silhouette is shaped like a Japanese woodcutting knife, as a symbol of Van Gogh’s personal fascination with traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Celebrating his ability to find inspiration and transform it into new art, a quote from a letter Vincent wrote to his brother Theo on 25 September, 1888, is hand-engraved on a solid Au 750 signature gold surface depressed into the barrel and cone: …‘le tableau me vient comme dans un rêve.’ (‘The painting comes to me as if in a dream.’). With signature gold and/or signature gold-coating, Montblanc evokes the enlightened shade of yellow gold which has become an appreciated tone for the Maison’s writing instruments.
Limited Edition 90
This edition especially emphasizes his time in Arles with design details reflecting his paintings of the Provençal landscapes and the impasto technique he favored. The engraving of ‘Arles’ on the cap top emphasizes the importance of this place to his life and art. Embedded in the cap top in a field of blue lacquer like one of Vincent’s bright stars – an image found repeatedly in his works – is the Montblanc emblem in solid Au 750 yellow gold. The year Vincent van Gogh moved to Arles is commemorated in an engraving of ‘1888’ alongside the signature ‘Vincent’ on the barrel ring. Van Gogh developed a looser, freer style and became equally competent with brush and palette knife – which he used for chunky, impetuous “impasto” work. In impasto painting, thick paint is applied in rough strokes to create a topography of colored layers that visually coalesce into an image rich with depth and character. Vincent Van Gogh’s impasto was intense, pushing the technique to a new level where the paint was thick and deep, the color potent and the strokes of the palette knife vigorous. This ground-breaking technique is interpreted by hand in the captivating artwork adorning the cap and barrel. Inspired by masterpieces such as The Harvest, the hand-crafted artwork is composed of colors used by Van Gogh for his visions of Provence: warm yellows, resonant oranges and soothing greens. Each writing instrument is unlike any other in the way exuberant strokes of color fuse into a satisfying whole, giving this edition the lyrical quality of a painted canvas and transforming it into a work of living artistry. His palette knife inspired the clip, while his sweeping brushwork is immortalized in the lacquer of the cap top. Furthermore, his fondness for pipe smoking, to which he referred in many of his self-portraits, is captured in a subtle detail of the clip: the upper part is shaped like a pipe’s bowl and decorated with a fire opal. The famous series of five sunflower paintings inspired the interpretation embossed on the handcrafted Au 750 solid yellow gold nib. As homage for Vincent’s fascination of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, the overall shape is inspired by a Japanese woodcutting knife.
Limited Edition 161
This edition especially emphasizes his time in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Auvers-sur-Oise with design details reflecting among others his last work he created, Tree Roots. In Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh perfected his ability to paint natural scenes as viewed through the lens of his emotions. Wheatfield and Cypresses is one such painting, showing an impetuous sky over a landscape full of movement. Van Gogh painted this view from the asylum in Saint-Rémy three times. His drawing of the same view, made with pencil, reed-pen and pen and ink, is interpreted in the engraving on the Ag 925 sterling silver cap. The engraved 1890 on the barrel ring – next to Vincent’s signature in blue – commemorates the year he drew his last painting, Tree Roots. The Ag 925 sterling silver barrel is decorated with lacquer inlays derived in their design and colors from Tree Roots, which depicts a group of trees with their roots exposed by erosion on the side of a hill. His palette knife inspired the clip, while his sweeping brushwork is immortalized in the lacquer of the cap top. Furthermore, his fondness for pipe smoking, to which he referred in many of his self-portraits, is captured in a subtle detail of the clip: the upper part is shaped like a pipe’s bowl and decorated with a Citrine. As homage for Vincent’s fascination of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, the overall shape is inspired by a Japanese woodcutting knife. The way that Van Gogh found inspiration in Japanese art demonstrates the universality of art and artistic concepts such as the Golden Cut, or 1.61 (Phi), which not only served as inspiration for the embossing of the Phi symbol on the handcrafted, solid Au 750 gold nib, but also for the limitation to 161 pieces. Van Gogh’s many creative impulses are symbolized in the facets of blue lacquer crowning the cap top. Embedded in this blue field like one of Vincent’s bright stars – an image found repeatedly in his works – is the Montblanc emblem in solid Au 750 signature gold. With signature gold and/or signature gold-coating, Montblanc evokes the enlightened shade of yellow gold which has become an appreciated tone for the Maison’s writing instruments.
Limited Edition 888
This edition especially emphasizes his time in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Auvers-sur-Oise, with design details reflecting the Provencal skies and one of his most famous paintings, “Wheatfield with Crows”. The engraved 1889 on the barrel ring – next to Vincent’s signature in blue lacquer – commemorates the year when he moved to Saint-Rémy. Vincent Van Gogh created memorable impressions of the gardens and wheatfields near the asylum where he lived. Paintings like the famous “Wheatfield with Crows”, of this period, marked his maturity as an artist and inspired the color composition of the edition’s cap. The provencial blue skies and golden wheatfields are reflected in translucent lacquer inlays in different shades of blue and the Au 750 solid yellow gold skeleton overlay. The stars shining brightly on the night heavens over the wheatfields are represented by the sparkling particles in the blue lacquer of the barrel and in the Au 750 solid yellow gold Montblanc emblem on the cap top, embedded in blue lacquer. Vincent van Gogh created over 200 paintings in southern France, developing a looser, freer style and becoming equally competent with brush and palette knife – which he used to create a chunky, impetuous “impasto” style. His palette knife inspired the platinum-coated clip, while his sweeping brushwork is immortalized in the blue lacquer of the cap top. Furthermore, his fondness for pipe smoking, to which he referred in many of his self-portraits, is captured in a subtle detail of the clip: the upper part is shaped like a pipe’s bowl and is adorned with a yellow citrine. The image embossed on the Au 750 solid yellow gold nib immortalizes Vincent’s painting “Almond Blossom”. Its Japanese-inspired style can be traced back to a fashionable admiration of Japanese art known at the time as Japonisme. The overall silhouette is shaped like a Japanese woodcutting knife, as a symbol of Van Gogh’s personal fascination with traditional Japanese woodblock prints.
Limited Edition 4810
This edition especially emphasizes his time in Arles with design details reflecting the Provencal wheatfields and one of his most famous paintings, “Sunflowers”. The engraved 1888 on the barrel ring – next to Vincent’s signature in bright orange – commemorates the year when he moved to Arles. While the barrel is decorated in shades of yellow and orange reflecting the sun-drenched landscapes of southern France, the famous series of five sunflower paintings inspired the interpretation embossed on the handcrafted Au 750 solid gold, rhodium-coated nib. Van Gogh developed a looser, freer style and becoming equally competent with brush and palette knife – which he used for chunky, impetuous “impasto” work. His palette knife inspired the platinum-coated clip, while his sweeping brushwork is immortalized in the yellow lacquer of the cap top. Furthermore, his fondness for pipe smoking, to which he referred in many of his self-portraits, is captured in a subtle detail of the clip: the upper part is shaped like a pipe’s bowl and filled with yellow precious resin. As homage for Vincent’s fascination of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, the overall shape is inspired by a Japanese woodcutting knife while the cap is made from wood. The edition is crowned by a Montblanc emblem made of yellow precious resin.
Fountain pen 8
Fountain pen 90
Fountain pen 161
Fountain pen 888
Fountain pen 4810
Rollerball pen 4810
