Arman
Arman (1928-2005), born in Nice, France, lived and worked in New York.
Arman Editions
Arman
20 Tubes
2004
20 paint tubes, soiled and pressed on canvas, contained in a Plexiglas box, 26 x 20 x 7 cm (10.2 x 7.9 x 2.8 in)
Edition of 99 + 20 AP, signed and numbered
The predominant type of works by Arman in the 60s were the Accumulations, assemblages of a number of identical or similar objects in sculptures or on paintings.
EUR 4,500
Arman
Accumulation
1973
Stamped print and rubber stamps in wood box with plexiglas, 45 x 30 x 8 cm (17¾ x 12 x 3 in). Co-published with John Gibson, New York. Edition limitied to 10 A.P. in black painted box with removable lid, signed and numbered on the print.
There was also a regular edition of 100, in a natural wood box.
Arman’s Accumulation edition from 1973 transforms ordinary rubber stamps into a densely layered sculptural composition. Numerous stamps bearing the word “ACCUMULATION” are piled inside a wooden box, while the same word is repeatedly stamped across the paper background, creating a striking interplay between the physical objects and their imprinted traces.
The work exemplifies Arman’s seminal Accumulations, in which repeated everyday objects are removed from their ordinary context and transformed through accumulation. By combining the stamps themselves with their repeated impressions, Arman turns the act of stamping into both subject and image, exploring repetition, multiplication and the relationship between object and representation. The work reflects his broader engagement with the objects of everyday consumer culture as a leading figure of Nouveau Réalisme.
Accumulation (1973) is part of the collection of MoMA, New York.
EUR 5,000
Arman
Hommage à Duchamp: To and for Rose Sélavy
1973
Accumulation of chess pieces, embedded in resin, 17.8 x 41.3 x 3.2 cm. Edition of 90, incised with signature and number.
This edition is part of Arman’s Hommage à Duchamp, a set of works created in tribute to Marcel Duchamp and centred on chess, a game that played an important role in Duchamp’s life and in his friendship with Arman. The accumulation of chess pieces, densely suspended in transparent resin, embodies Arman’s signature practice of transforming repeated everyday objects into unified sculptural compositions.
The chess-piece accumulation forms part of a larger assemblage incorporating images of breasts, cigars, and a chessboard bearing variations of the moustache and goatee Duchamp famously added to the Mona Lisa. Housed together in a box resembling a chess-piece case, selected elements spell out “A ROSE SELAVY ARMAN,” referencing Duchamp’s female alter ego, Rrose Sélavy. Arman and Duchamp played numerous games of chess in Paris and New York during the 1960s; Arman later recalled that chess was the reason for their closeness, despite winning only one game in ten against Duchamp.
EUR 4,500
