Arman 1928-2005

Arman, whose real name was Armand Pierre Fernandez, was a Franco-American artist born in 1928 in Nice and who died in 2005 in New York. He studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Nice, then at the École du Louvre in Paris. His encounter with and friendship with Yves Klein marked a turning point in his artistic practice.

Initially focused on painting, Arman gradually brought everyday objects into the center of his practice. Beginning in 1959, he incorporated trash into his works with his “Poubelles” series—transparent boxes in which he created composite sketches of his friends using their discarded items. As early as 1961, he began creating his assemblages: after destroying objects, he would reassemble them on a canvas. Thus, objects and everyday life were no longer merely represented—they became the very material of the artwork.

In 1960, he joined the Nouveaux Réalistes group, formed around Yves Klein and art critic Pierre Restany; the latter had used the term “New Realism” in reference to a Milan exhibition featuring works by Arman, Klein, Jean Tinguely, and Jacques Villeglé. This group sought to develop new approaches to reality. It is these reflections that we find in Arman’s work: the status of objects and the relationship to consumer society become areas of exploration.