Montblanc’s Andy Warhol Special Edition

The latest piece in Montblanc’s Great Characters series, the Andy Warhol special edition pays tribute to one of the principal figures of the pop art movement. While originally trained as a commercial artist, Warhol eagerly embraced both the silkscreen process and the newfound commercialism of the 1950s and 1960s. Blurring the lines between fine art and commercial art, Warhol defied contemporary critics with his loud, sometimes garish interpretations of iconic American symbols that dared viewers to challenge their own perceptions of the nature of art, and what art can be.

The Montblanc Andy Warhol special edition is an homage to one of Warhol’s earliest, most well-known, and most enduring subjects – cans of Campbell’s soup. Deeply etched into the stainless steel barrel of the pen are four soup cans, arranged in a 2 x 2 grid in a nod to Warhol’s penchant for geometric arrangement. The color scheme of the front section, cobalt blue and orange, showcases the wide variety of hues Warhol explored in the mid-1960s, as he transitioned away from more realistic paintings and illustrations. The clip of the pen, with its clean and static lines, is an understated reproduction of the squeegee used to deposit ink onto the artistic medium in Warhol’s signature silkscreen process. Atop the pen is Montblanc’s signature snowcap, encircled in this case by concentric rings (not unlike those found on the top of, say, a can of soup!). Adorning the top of the pen is a quote which embodies Warhol’s tendency to explore the boundaries and definitions of art: “Art is what you can get away with.”

All in all, Montblanc fails to disappoint with a fitting testament to one of Modernism’s most influential and eminent figures. Like any piece produced by Montblanc, the Andy Warhol special edition stands by itself as a piece of art, a faithful tribute to the artist himself and a worthy purchase for any fan of Andy Warhol, modern art, and fine writing instruments.

- Gavin