For over 25 years, Montblanc, the German luxury maker of accessories and writing instruments, has been actively engaged in the promotion of arts and culture globally through the recognition of modern day patrons of the arts with its prestigious Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award. Coinciding with the annual award is the release of Montblanc limited edition writing instruments.
This year, Montblanc’s Patron of Art Edition 2016 pays homage to the most influential art collectors and exhibitors of 20th century art –the American art collector and socialite Peggy Guggenheim. Born from the wealthy family of the New York City Guggenheims, Peggy is the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of the founder of the eponymously named the Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim.
Peggy left America for Paris and became a supporter of the avant-garde art scene where she has helped the 20th century’s most successful artists including Kandinsky, Pollock and Ernst to showcase their works in Europe and America. She dedicated most of her life discovering new talents while building a collection of artworks that until today are still revered in the Venice museum that bears her name.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection art museum sits on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, and is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. Montblanc pays tribute to Peggy with a Patron of Art Edition pen that is designed with details that symbolize her life in Venice and the legacy that she left in the modern art world. Made with only 81 pieces to honor her age, the Montblanc Patron of Art Peggy Guggenheim Limited Edition 81 is crafted from the finest materials made by highly skilled master craftsmen. The pen is available in three limited editions all inspired by her colorful life.
One of the limited edition pens carries the skeletonized structure of the barrel inspired by the dramatic entrance to her collection in Venice which is created by renowned sculptor Claire Falkenstein. The clip design carries a lion head, a symbol of Saint Mark which is the symbol of the city of Venice where she spent most of her life, while the patterns on the cap ring are reminiscent of the details on the front of Guggenheim’s Venetian palazzo-museum. The cap is designed with a champagne-gold skeleton zebra-like patterns as seen in the zebra designs at the “Palazzo Venier dei Leoni,” Peggy’s home for 30 years.
The other two designs, the Limited Edition 888 (red) and 4810 (black), have a geometric Art Deco-inspired pattern on both caps and barrels. The red stripes on the tip of each pen represent the mooring pillars for the gondolas lining the Venice canals. The pens have paws engraved on the Au750 solid gold nib to symbolize Peggy’s love for her 14 Lhasa Apso dogs. The cap carries Montblanc emblem on top in white marble, reminiscent of her palazzo’s marble façade.
Each Montblanc Peggy Guggenheim Limited Edition Pen comes in its very own Montblanc red lacquer box with a Montblanc plaque and an international two-year warranty. This collection is perfect for art lovers who have great admiration for Peggy and her contribution to the art scene, as well as collectors who have a penchant for luxury writing instruments.