Born on November 19, 1928, in Nice, Arman—whose real name was Armand Pierre Fernandez—was a painter, visual artist, and sculptor. Immersed in art from an early age thanks to his father, an antique dealer, he was drawn to artistic creation early on. After studying at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Nice and the École du Louvre in Paris, he met Yves Klein and Claude Pascal, with whom he formed the “Triangle” group. He adopted the name “Arman” after a misprint on an exhibition invitation card in 1958.
In the 1950s, Arman began moving away from traditional painting and focused on sculptural works. These included his famous Accumulations—collections of various objects enclosed in plexiglass—which questioned consumer society and redefined the role of the object in art. His use of found and everyday materials aligned him with the Nouveaux Réalistes, a movement that embraced the use of ordinary objects as artistic materials. Members of this movement reacted against the dominance of abstract art without advocating a return to traditional figuration.
Internationally acclaimed, Arman created monumental works such as L’Heure de tous at the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris and public sculptures at Lincoln Center in New York. In the 1980s and 1990s, he explored new techniques, such as painting through Shooting Colors. His work has been exhibited in major museums around the world, and he was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1989.
Arman passed away on October 22, 2005, in New York, leaving behind a lasting legacy in contemporary art through his sculptures, paintings, and large-scale public installations.
