HARDMUTH
The history of Cretacolor's products dates back to 1790 when Joseph Hardmuth, a Viennese architect and inventor, developed the first graphite pencil. Composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert, both giants in their age, were sponsored by Joseph Hardtmuth, who was a lover of music and the arts. The mind boggles when considering all the famous musical compositions written using pencils manufactured by Joseph Hardtmuth. Queen Victoria herself was said to be thrilled when, in 1889, she first used a pencil made in the Cretacolor factory.
BREVILLIER
Further contributing to the evolution of the modern pencil, Carl Brevillier established the Zeus Pencil Factory in Vienna in 1863. Brevillier had made his fortune in industrial production of screws for railways, but found his true calling in art. He wanted to “make high quality tool available to those who write and draw” – enabling large numbers of people to explore art who could previously not afford it.
HROMATKA
Today’s Cretacolor sees yet another captain of industry turn to a true passion for art and pencils. Hans Hromatka, a Viennese entrepreneur in plastics, acquired the Cretacolor factory in Hirm, a small town outside of Vienna. His leadership has seen the development of new products to serve modern artists, including woodless Monolith pencils and the utterly unique colored charcoal, Art Chunky. Hromatka aims to combine the best traditions of Hardmuth and Brevillier with innovation to create exception fine art materials.
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