Masters of Art Homage to Vincent van Gogh Limited Edition 161 Fountain Pen

With the Montblanc Masters of Art Homage to Vincent van GoghLimited Edition 161, Montblanc celebrates Vincent van Gogh, one of the mostpopular painters of the late 19th century. This edition especiallyemphasises his time in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Auvers-sur-Oise withdesign details reflecting among others his last work he created, Tree Roots. In Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Goghperfected his ability to paint natural scenes as viewed through the lens ofhis emotions. Wheatfieldand Cypresses is one such painting, showing an impetuous sky over a landscapefull of movement. VanGogh painted this view from the asylum in Saint-Rémy three times. His drawing of the same view, madewith pencil, reed-pen and pen and ink, is interpreted in the engraving on theAg 925 sterling silver cap.The engraved 1890 on the barrel ring – next toVincent’s signature in blue – commemorates the year he drew his lastpainting, Tree Roots. TheAg 925 sterling silver barrel is decorated with lacquer inlays derived intheir design and colours from Tree Roots, which depicts a group of trees withtheir roots exposed by erosion on the side of a hill. Van Gogh developed a looser, freer style andbecoming equally competent with brush and palette knife – which he used forchunky, impetuous “impasto” work. His palette knife inspired the clip, while his sweepingbrushwork is immortalised in the lacquer of the cap top. Furthermore, his fondness for pipesmoking, to which he referred in many of his self-portraits, is captured in asubtle detail of the clip: the upper part is shaped like a pipe’s bowl anddecorated with a Citrine. As homage for Vincent’s fascination oftraditional Japanese woodblock prints, the overall shape is inspired by aJapanese woodcutting knife. The way that Van Gogh found inspiration in Japanese artdemonstrates the universality of art and artistic concepts such as the GoldenCut, or 1.61 (Phi), which not only served as inspiration for the embossing ofthe Phi symbol on the handcrafted, solid Au 750 gold nib, but also for thelimitation to 161 pieces.Van Gogh’s many creative impulses are symbolisedin the facets of blue lacquer crowning the cap top.Embedded in this blue field like one of Vincent’sbright stars – an image found repeatedly in his works – is the Montblancemblem in solid Au 750 signature gold. With signature gold and/or signaturegold-coating, Montblanc evokes the enlightened shade of yellow gold which hasbecome an appreciated tone for the Maison’s writing instruments.