Lot 3439 - A185 PostWar & Contemporary - Saturday, 30. June 2018, 02.00 PM
ARMAN (ARMAND PIERRE FERNANDEZ)
(Nice 1928–2005 New York City)
Mercure aux clés. 2002.
Bronze, partly with black patina.
With the incised signature on the base: Arman, as well as with the stamped number: III/IV.
185 x 45 x 45 cm (incl. base).
This work is recorded in the Arman Studio Archives. New York, under the number: APA#8309.02.006.
This work is also recorded in the Denyse Durand-Ruel Archives, Rueil-Malmaison, under the number: 6843 (with the photo expertise).
Provenance: Private collection Switzerland.
Born in Nice, the son of an antiques dealer and cello player, the artist Armand Pierre Fernandez developed an affinity for music and the art of collecting. He studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Nice and subsequently moved to Paris, where he pursued his art history studies at the École du Louvre. The artist was co-founder of the group Nouveau Réalisme, whose members argued against the ossification of abstract and Informel art and advocated a new approach to the real – seeking a poetic rediscovery of the reality of urban and industrial life.
A set of themes in Arman’s work are the numerous Neo-Dadaist experiments with mythological figures such as Mercury or cultural objects. With the aid of a blowpipe, he cut vertical slats into the three-dimensional bronze sculptures, and so created openings, which he then re-soldered at regular intervals. The intention of the artist was through the process of deconstruction to make the pure material inner life of these cultural objects and symbols accessible to his audience.
The violin is a further central object in Arman’s oeuvre. He examines the material nature of this instrument and reflects this in the most diverse works: in "Untitled" (Lot 3735) he simply arranges side by side of papier-mâché replicas of violins, in a similar way to the silkscreen on canvas (Lot 3441).
This work is also recorded in the Denyse Durand-Ruel Archives, Rueil-Malmaison, under the number: 6843 (with the photo expertise).
Provenance: Private collection Switzerland.
Born in Nice, the son of an antiques dealer and cello player, the artist Armand Pierre Fernandez developed an affinity for music and the art of collecting. He studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Nice and subsequently moved to Paris, where he pursued his art history studies at the École du Louvre. The artist was co-founder of the group Nouveau Réalisme, whose members argued against the ossification of abstract and Informel art and advocated a new approach to the real – seeking a poetic rediscovery of the reality of urban and industrial life.
A set of themes in Arman’s work are the numerous Neo-Dadaist experiments with mythological figures such as Mercury or cultural objects. With the aid of a blowpipe, he cut vertical slats into the three-dimensional bronze sculptures, and so created openings, which he then re-soldered at regular intervals. The intention of the artist was through the process of deconstruction to make the pure material inner life of these cultural objects and symbols accessible to his audience.
The violin is a further central object in Arman’s oeuvre. He examines the material nature of this instrument and reflects this in the most diverse works: in "Untitled" (Lot 3735) he simply arranges side by side of papier-mâché replicas of violins, in a similar way to the silkscreen on canvas (Lot 3441).
CHF 20 000 / 30 000 | (€ 20 620 / 30 930)
Sold for CHF 29 300 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.