Arman (November 17, 1928 – October 22, 2005) was a French and American artist. Born Armand Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave (cachets, allures d'objet) to using them as the artworks themselves. He is best known for his Accumulations and destruction/recomposition of objects.
Early life and education Arman's father, Antonio Fernandez, an antiques dealer from Nice, was also an amateur artist, photographer, and cellist. From his father, Arman learned oil painting and photography. After receiving his bachelor's degree in philosophy and mathematics in 1946, Arman began studying at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Nice. He also studied judo at a police school in Nice, where he met Yves Klein and Claude Pascal. The trio bonded closely on a subsequent hitch-hiking tour around Europe.
Completing his studies in 1949, Arman enrolled as a student at the École du Louvre in Paris, where he concentrated on the study of archaeology and Asian art. In 1951, he became a teacher at the Bushido Kai Judo Club in Madrid, Spain. In 1952, he served in the French military, completing his tour of duty as a medical orderly during the Indo-China War.
Early career
Early on, it was apparent that Arman's concept of the accumulation of vast quantities of similar objects was to remain a significant component of his art. He had originally focused more attention on his abstract paintings, considering them to be of more consequence than his early accumulations of rubber stamps. In 1962, he began welding together Accumulations of similar kinds of metal objects, such as watches or axes.
Inspiration and name change Inspired by an exhibition for the German Dadaist Kurt Schwitters in 1954, Arman began working on Cachets, his first major artistic undertaking. At his third solo exhibition held in Paris's Galerie Iris Clert in 1958, Arman showed some of his first 2D accumulations he called Cachets. These rubber stamp marks on paper and fabric proved a success and provided a change of course in his career.
At the time, he was signing only with his first name as an homage to Van Gogh, who also signed his works with his first name, "Vincent". In 1957, Arman chose to change his name from "Armand" to "Arman". On January 31, 1973, upon becoming a citizen of the United States, he took the American civil name, "Armand Pierre Arman", but continued to use "Arman" as his public persona.
Evolution of work From 1959 to 1962, Arman developed his most recognizable style, beginning with his two most renowned concepts: Accumulations and Poubelles (French for "trash bins"). Accumulations were collections of commonplace and similar objects which he arranged within transparent polyester castings, or within Plexiglas cases. His first welded Accumulations were created in 1962.
The Poubelles were collections of strewn refuse. In 1960, he filled the Iris Clert Gallery in Paris with trash, creating Le Plein (The Full) as a counterpoint to an exhibition called Le Vide (The Void) at the same gallery two years earlier by his friend Yves Klein.
In October 1960, Arman, Yves Klein, François Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Martial Raysse, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely, Jacques Villeglé, and art critic and philosopher Pierre Restany founded the Nouveau Réalisme group. Joined later by Cesar, Mimmo Rotella, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Christo, the group of young artists defined themselves as bearing in common their "new perspective approaches of reality". They were reassessing the concept of art and the artist for a 20th-century consumer society by reasserting humanistic ideals in the face of industrial expansion. Arman also became affiliated with the ZERO art movement based in Germany.
In 1961, Arman made his debut in the United States, the country which was to become his second home. During this period, he explored creation via destruction. The Coupes (Cuts) and the Colères (Angers) featured sliced, burned, or smashed objects arranged on canvas, often using objects with a strong "identity" such as musical instruments (mainly violins and saxophones) or bronze statues.
Arman and Warhol
Arman can be seen in Andy Warhol's film Dinner at Daley's, a documentation of a dinner performance by the Fluxus artist Daniel Spoerri that Warhol filmed on March 5, 1964. Throughout the portrait-screen-test film, Arman sits in profile, looking down, appearing to be entranced in his reading, seemingly unaware of Warhol's camera, only making small gestures, rubbing his eyes, and licking the corner of his mouth. He remained silent, eyes gazing over the pages of what seemed to be a newspaper, in this four-minute, 16mm black-and-white reel. Warhol owned two of Arman's Poubelles and another accumulation called Amphetamines, which were sold at Sotheby's auction of the Andy Warhol Collection in May 1988.
Move to New York City Fascinated with the scene in New York City, Arman took up part-time residency there from his home in Nice in 1961, after his first exhibition at the Cordier Warren Gallery. In the city, he met Marcel Duchamp at a dinner given by the artist and collector William Copley. First living at the Chelsea Hotel and later in Church street, while keeping a studio in Bowery, then in TriBeCa, Arman began work on large public sculptures.
There were varied expressions of the Accumulations, including tools, watches, clocks, furniture, automobile parts, jewelry, and musical instruments in various stages of dismemberment. Musical instruments, specifically the stringsExample of a violin sculpture by Arman in the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York and bronze, through his collaboration with a foundry in Normandy, France, became a major theme in Arman's work.
Of Arman's Accumulations, one of the largest is Long Term Parking,Detail of Long Term Parking which is on permanent display at the Château de Montcel in Jouy-en-Josas, France. Completed in 1982, this high sculpture consists of 60 mostly French cars set in of concrete. Just as ambitious was his 1995 work Hope for Peace,Image of Hope for Peace which was specially commissioned by the Lebanese government to commemorate 50 years of their military's service. Standing in once war-torn Beirut, the monument consists of 83 tanks and military vehicles.
Personal life In 1953, Arman married electronic music composer Éliane Radigue and had two daughters, Marion (1951) and Anne (1953) and one son, (1954–1989). In 1971, he married Corice Canton Arman, with whom he had one daughter, Yasmine and one son, Philippe. In 1989, he had his sixth and last child, Yves Cesar Arman, son of Carrole Cesar.
After Arman's death in New York on October 22, 2005, some of his ashes were buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris in 2008. Arman's Tomb in Père-Lachaise (division 11)
Selected exhibitions and awards
1960s 1964 Arman, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland Arman, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1965 Arman, Museum Hans Lange, Krefeld, Germany
1966 Arman, Palais de Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium Arman, Musée de la Ville, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
1967 Arman, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
1969 Arman: Accummulations Renault (traveling exhibition): Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France Louisiana Museum of Modern Art Humlebaek, Denmark Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany Städtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden Städtische Kunstammlungen, Ludwigshafen, Germany Kunsthaus, Zürich, Switzerland Amos Anderson Taidemuseo, Helsinki, Helsingfors, Finland
1970s 1970 Arman, Modern Art Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
1973
Arman, Selected Activities. John Gibson Gallery, New York
1974 Arman, Salles romanes du Cloître Saint-Trophime, Musée Réattu, Arles, France Arman: Selected Works 1958-1974, La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, California; *Fort Worth Art Museum, Texas
1975 Arman: Objets Armés 1971-1974, Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1976 Arman, Artcurial auction house, Paris, France
1977 Arman: Paintings and Sculptures, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kansas
1978 Arman, Veranneman Foundation, Kruishoutem, Belgium
1979 Arman: Rétrospective, Centre d'Art et de Culture, Flaine, France
1980s 1980 Arman, Veranneman Foundation, Kruishoutem, Belgium
1981 Arman, Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany
1982 Arman: Parade der Objekte: Retrospektive 1955-1982 (traveling exhibition): Kunstmuseum, Sammlung Sprengel, Hanover, Germany Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany Tel Aviv Museum, Israel Kunsthalle, Tübingen, Germany Musée Picasso, Château Grimaldi, Antibes, France Musée d'Art Contemporain Dunkerque, France
1984 Arman o L’Oggetto come Alfabeto: Retrospettiva 1955-1984, Museo Civico delle Belle Arti, Lugano, Switzerland Arman, Museo d'Arte Moderna, Parma, Italy
1985 Arman, Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan; Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul, Korea Arman Aujourd’hui, Musée de Toulon, France
1986 Arman: Retrospective, Wichita State University, Ulrich Museum of Art, Kansas Arman, Veranneman Foundation, Kruishoutem, Belgium
1990s 1991 Arman in Italy, Fondazione Mudima, Milan, Italy Arman Sculpture, Contemporary Sculpture Center, Tokyo, Japan Arman: A Retrospective 1955 - 1991, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York; The Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
1992 Il Giro di Arman, Associazione Culturale Italo-Francese, Bologna, Italy
1994 Le Ceramica di Arman, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, Faenze, Italy
1995 Arman, Musée Royal de Mariemont, Mariemont-Chapelle, Belgium
1996 Arman: The Exhibition of International Sculpture Master, Modern Art Gallery, Taichung, Taïwan
1998 Arman, Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
1999 Arman, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel Arman, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo, Brazil Arman: Fragmentation--Concerto for 4 Pianos, John Gibson Gallery, New York
21st Century 2000 Arman—20 stations de l'objet, Couvent des Cordeliers, Paris, France Arman, Fundaciò "la Caixa," Barcelona, Spain Arman, la traversée des objets, Palazzo delle Zitelle, Venice, Italy Arman, Museo de Monterrey, Mexico Arman, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
2000-01 Arman: Werke auf Papier, Ludwig Museum, Coblenz, Germany
2001-02 Arman: Through and Across Objects, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida
2002 Arman: Works on Paper, Villa Haiss Museum, Zell, Germany
2003 Awarded 2003 Sport Artist of the Year, The American Sport Art Museum and Archives, United States Sports Academy, Daphne, Alabama Arman: Arman, Museum of Contemporary Art of Teheran, Teheran, Iran Arman, Marlborough New York City
2004 Omaggio ad Arman Arte Silva, Sergno Arman—Peinture, Marlborough Monaco, Monaco
2005 Hommage a Arman, Galerie Anne Lettree, Paris
2006 Arman—Subida al Cielo, Musée d' Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain Nice, France Arman—A Tribute to Arman, Marlborough Gallery, New York Arman—No Comment, Galerie Georges-Phillippe & Nathalie Vallois, Paris
2008 Arman, Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin
2010-2011 Arman, a retrospective, Centre Georges Pompidou, Oct. 2010, Paris Arman, retrospective, Museum Tinguely, Feb. 2011, Basel, Switzerland Arman-in les Baux de Provence, July-Oct. 2011, Les Baux-de-Provence
2013 Cycles, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
Public collections in the United States (selected)
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DCImages of artwork by Arman in the Hirshhorn Museum collection, Smithsonian Institution Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, Missouri Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri