Montblanc awards art patrons in 16 countries

Sam Bardaouil, left, and Till Fellrath, The co-chairs of the Montblanc Foundation, speak during a press conference for the Montblanc de al Culture Arts Patronage Award held in SongEun ArtSpace in Cheongdam, Seoul, last Thursday. / Courtesy of PR ONE

By Kim Jae-heun

The German luxury penmaker Montblanc awarded Yoo Sang-duck, chairman of SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation, in honor of his contribution to the development of the global art scene, on Sept. 22.

Yoo has been noted for his support of young artists while freely lending his art center for exhibitions of foreign and local painters in Korea since he started leading the foundation in 1999. In 2010, he built the exhibition venue called “SongEun ArtSpace” in Cheongdam, Seoul, giving access to the public so they can share opinions with artists.

Montblanc Foundation, the independent art organization of Montblanc, has been supporting patrons of artists from 16 different countries, including newly joined Greece, Brazil and Colombia.

The foundation has awarded 11 Korean patrons, including Kim Dong-ho, honorary executive director of the Busan International Film Festival last year, and the president of Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo in 2014. This is the 12th consecutive time that the awards ceremony took place in Korea.

“Montblanc has always been interested in culture and the arts, as fine penmanship is integral to the company,” said Till Fellrath, the new co-chair of the Montblanc Foundation along with Sam Bardaouil, during the press conference last week. “We want to appreciate the efforts of individuals supporting artists and Montblanc is the first to do so.

“It is also important to reward the patrons and not only the artists who are directly involved in art and culture. This way the patrons can support the artists more actively and other people can be motivated to support artists too,” said Fellrath.

The former award winners include Prince Charles, the Rockefeller Foundation and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan.

Monblanc Foundation commissions some 44 judges from the arts who select the final winner from a pool of three candidates from each country. The judges are changed every year to seek objectivity in making the awards.

Fellrath and Bardaouil are also curators who plan to hold art exhibitions at Pompidou Center in Paris, Reina Sofia Museum in Spain and Tate Liverpool in England. They founded the New York- and Munich-based curator platform “Art Reoriented” in 2009 to diversify the perspectives in understanding art while critiquing the work.

“We meet many artists while working as curators and watch them plan art programs or exhibit their work. We learned it is important to support them and when Montblanc contacted us to work for their foundation, we immediately thought there could be a synergy effect in supporting artists directly and also recognizing patrons of the arts,” said Bardaouil.

Fellrath agreed that the foundation’s idea of employing non-governmental officials as chairmen contributed the most to his decision in joining Montblanc as the two themselves are artists and are well aware of the reality and ecosystem of the art scene.

Asked about the considerable number of financial gurus awarded as patrons in the past, Fellrath explained that the standard of selecting candidates is based on support and achievement that will have a long lasting impact in the art field and who is respected by many people involved in the arts.

Bardaouil believes these people, who number around 250 so far, can form a network to contribute to the world art scene as Montblanc itself has considerable influence in the art world.

“It is important to provide public accessibility to art and maximize potential of unknown and young artists.

Art should be shared with all people, regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender or class,” said Bardaouil.