Cello Chair From Arman, Circa 1990, France

Arman "Cello" chair, circa 1990, France. Editions Hugues Chevalier n°6/50.
Signed and numbered under the seat on a brass plate.
Made of ebonized beech.
Circa 1990, France.

Dimensions : 86 cm height x 42 cm width x 48 cm depth

Arman (November 17, 1928 - October 22, 2005) was a French-born American artist.
Born in Nice, France, Armand Fernandez was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint marks they left (stamps, object-like appearances) to using them as works of art themselves. He is best known for his Accumulations and his destruction/recompositions of objects.
Arman's father, Antonio Fernandez, an antiques dealer from Nice, was also an amateur artist, photographer, and cellist. Arman learned oil painting and photography from his father.
He studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Nice, then at the École du Louvre in Paris. Then, in 1957, he became interested in everyday objects as works of art.
He first created what would become known as his "object allures," where he dipped an object in paint and pressed it onto the canvas, leaving a shadow or imprint of the object.
His intention was to remove the material function of an object so that the only remaining function was to "feed the mind" as a work of art. What better way to achieve this than by breaking, cutting, or even burning objects such as violins, telephones, and typewriters? He also rendered objects useless by accumulating them, such as 2,000 wristwatches in a Plexiglas box that all told a different time. He achieved worldwide recognition and is considered one of the most prolific and inventive creators of the late 20th century. His works are included in the collections of numerous museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Arman's works have also been exhibited in galleries, museums, and public spaces worldwide, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran (Iran), the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Israel), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Opéra de Paris (France), the La Jolla Museum Contemporary (California), and the Guggenheim (New York). He died in 2005 in New York.