Arman French, 1928-2005

Arman, whose real name was Armand Pierre Fernandez, was an artist born in Nice in 1928 and died in New York in 2005. He studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs de Nice, followed by the École du Louvre in Paris. His friendship and artistic relationship with Yves Klein marked a turning point in his practice and gradually brought him into the artistic debates that shaped the French post-war scene.

Initially focused on painting, Arman progressively placed everyday objects at the heart of his artistic practice. From 1959 onwards, he began incorporating discarded objects into his works, notably in his « Poubelles » series, transparent boxes in which he created portraits of his friends using their discarded possessions. He also developed his « Accumulations », bringing together and repeating identical or similar objects. From 1961 onwards, he began producing his « Colères » and « Coupes », destroying objects only to reassemble them on a canvas or other support.

Objects and everyday life were thus no longer merely represented: they became the very material of the artwork.

In 1960, Arman joined the Nouveau Réalisme movement, formed around Yves Klein and the art critic Pierre Restany. Restany had coined the term « Nouveau Réalisme » to describe the work of artists who, like Arman, sought to develop new approaches to reality. By bringing objects from everyday life and consumer society into the realm of art, Arman questioned their status, value, and the changing relationship between individuals and the objects that surrounded them. Collecting, accumulating, destroying and reassembling thus became artistic gestures through which he explored the place of the object in contemporary society.