Montblanc Masters of Art Gustav Klimt fountain pen

Great artists throughout history have expressed the human experience in a universal language of form and beauty. The Montblanc Masters of Art Collection honors their immortal contribution to the quest for perfection in art - a quest that Montblanc both celebrates and participates in. An artist whose vision helped shape Viennese Art Nouveau and the Golden Age is Gustav Klimt. The Montblanc Masters of Art Homage to Gustav Klimt Limited Edition 4810 celebrates his artistic beginnings in the Viennese Secession and highlights elements from his masterpieces Pallas Athene and The Kiss in the design.

In his rebellion against stereotypical concepts in art and society, Gustav Klimt was a pioneer of the avant-garde. He brought together realistic representation, ornamentation, and abstraction in a style that reached its peak in his large-scale, subtly sensual paintings of women.

One of his first paintings in which he placed equal value on ornamentation and the sitter was a 1902 portrait of his partner and muse Emilie Flöge, depicted in a dreamy, almost mystical blue. This artwork provided the blue hue used in the Montblanc Masters of Art Homage to Gustav Klimt Limited Edition 4810. The circles, swirls, triangles, and lines that shimmer through the translucent, dark blue lacquer of the writing instrument are derived from his famous painting The Kiss, in which two lovers seem to dissolve into decorative, geometric forms through the power of emotion. The cap and barrel of the writing instrument are composed of translucent blue lacquer and yellow gold-coated hammered metal, effectively utilizing complementary colors that reference Gustav Klimt's famous works from his Golden Phase, including Adele Bloch-Bauer I, the Stoclet Frieze, and The Kiss.

Klimt used a new technique to enrich his colors with individual pieces of gold leaf, creating the impression of gemstones set in gold. In the Limited Edition 4810, the yellow gold hammered cone is set with a synthetic green spinel, a color reminiscent of spring, the season of new beginnings. Klimt's Secession monogram, a gold-colored pad print of his initials, GK, pays homage to his achievements for the Viennese Secession. The clip of the Homage to Gustav Klimt Limited Edition 4810 is specially designed with reference to Gustav Klimt's Pallas Athene.

As Athena is the goddess of both warfare and art, she is depicted launching the battle for artistic freedom. The gently curved lines ending in three spirals on the yellow gold clip correspond to the decoration on the forged metal frame.

The handmade solid Au 750 yellow gold nib is finely engraved with an owl, symbolizing knowledge, wisdom, and insight, and was considered the faithful companion of the Greek goddess Athena. The engraving is both a reference to Gustav Klimt's painting of Pallas Athena and to the Secession building, whose side facades are adorned with owl sculptures.