Born in Nice in 1928, Arman was the son of an antiques dealer and amateur cellist. In addition to drawing and painting, the artist absorbed an intense appreciation for music. After the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Nice, he went to Paris to study Art History at the Ecole du Louvre. More consequential yet was his signing, in 1960, of the manifesto of the “Nouveau Réalisme” (New Realism) movement. With fellow artists Klein, Martial Raysse and Jean Tinguely, among others they asserted the document: “New Realism equals new ways of perceiving the real”. Therefore, Arman set out on a new course, in which he would re-examine the artistic possibilities of everyday objects. He could elevate the banal to the aesthetic, and refuse into art.