Andy Warhol meets Montblanc
Andy Warhol famously raised the humble soup can to the status of high art in his “Campbell’s Soup Cans series”. It became a defining moment in pop art and art itself; where something ordinary and commonplace could be imbued with life and meaning. In tribute to that, the Montblanc Great Characters Andy Warhol Special Edition uses the witty artwork as inspiration.
Images of the tomato soup cans grace the pen cap; four, to be exact, in a two-by-two configuration rendered in stainless steel. This grey section that dominates the body of the pen is complemented by a cobalt blue barrel and narrow orange rings, echoing the colour variations of the original artwork. A dollar sign is engraved onto the handcrafted, rhodium-finished 14K gold nib, while the platinum-coated clip captures another of Warhol’s signatures – the squeegee which he used in his landmark silkscreen prints.
On the cap’s top, one of Warhol’s most famous sayings – Art is what you can get away with – is etched. Part of Montblanc’s Great Characters series, which has honoured Mahatma Ghandi, John F Kennedy and Leonardo Da Vinci in the past, the pen is available in three forms: ballpoint (US$750/RM3,180), rollerball (US$805/RM3,400) and piston fountain pen (US$940/RM4,000).
