FERNANDEZ ARMAN. Thale's Cello, bronze and wood, 111.8 x 71.1 x 53.3 cm.

FERNANDEZ ARMAN France, 1928-2005 Prisoners Series: Thale's Cello (1990) Signed arman. Oath. 6/8. Bronze and wood, 111.8 x 71.1 x 53.3 cm. B PROVENANCE Leif Holmer Gallery. Edition produced by Leif Holmer Gallery together with Fernandez Arman in 1990. The French sculptor and visual artist Armand Pierre Fernandez, "Arman", came from an intellectual home in Nice. Arman's father was an antiques dealer and his mother played the violin. Conversations about contemporary art, philosophy and literature were part of everyday life for Arman, who was invited to participate in the discussions. His interest in drawing was also encouraged early on, and in 1946 he started at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Nice. However, the education did not suit Arman, who found the teaching too conservative, thus his friendship with Yves Klein was perhaps the most important outcome of his time at the school. Together they made several inspirational trips in post-war Europe. They took on new influences and engaged in intellectual discussions about art. By the end of the 1950s, Arman, then living in Paris, had abandoned his traditional painting and methodically began to create sculptural works. He used utensils, disposable items or, as in Thale's Cello, an instrument. The object was centered, and based on its physical form and material, he created aesthetic effects. He also put together objects, as in his "accumulations", where he insulated identical objects in plexiglass. In Paris in 1960, both Arman and Yves Klein wrote on the manifesto of neorealism Nouveau Réalisme - new ways of perceiving the real ", in Klein's studio. The artists who were part of the group opposed informal art, with their various abstract orientations, and became the French equivalent of pop art. They wanted to reintroduce a performing art, but instead of devoting themselves to depicting the outside world, they, like Arman, often used objects. Of course, there was a connection here to Dadaism's "object trouvé", everyday objects that are elevated to a work of art by an artist. Thale's Cello was created at a late stage in Arman's career. The sculpture, which is a split and cut cello, is refined and technically impressive in its design. We glimpse its inner stable and the edge that has been covered by the rim. The elegant, organic wood veneer contrasts with the gleaming bronze. Its otherwise obscured beautiful interior, which is crucial for the instrument's function, is now exposed. The instrument is falling but is frozen in the middle of a movement. The maneuver is graceful and almost audible. There is no doubt that the sublime instrument with its musicality exudes a dignity, and with its form, is an outstanding example of Arman's sense and genius. Has resale rights.