Arman - Untitled (Colère de Violons) - image-1

Lot 505 N

Arman - Untitled (Colère de Violons)

Auction 1052 - overview Cologne
30.05.2015, 11:30 - Contemporary Art
Estimate: 40.000 € - 60.000 €
Result: 49.600 € (incl. premium)

Arman

Untitled (Colère de Violons)
1974

Dismantled violins with traces of fire in polyester resin in plexiglass box. 120 x 90 x 13 cm; on metal plinth 75 x 90 x 35 cm. Signed (scratched) 'arman' on plexiglass box. Unique work. - Traces of studio and minor traces of age.

The accumulations have been the most important component of Arman's artistic work since 1959. The artist began by gathering similar, everyday objects and mounting them on wood or in glazed wooden boxes. In order to free himself from the accompanying gravitational force, the artist started encasing the accumulations with polyester resin, and for a time with concrete, thus burying the objects which he had intentionally damaged or burnt. Smashed, sawn up or burnt musical instruments occupied a particularly important position. The act of damaging the object however was not to be seen as an of aggression or the rejection of the object: 'By destroying the items he takes away their fate, which initially consists of their use, but afterwards of their abandonment and neglect. He breaks, cuts, crushes, burns and locks away musical instruments and cars. They are thereby given a second life on another level. The social meaning is no longer evident, but rather a paradoxical archaeology is delivered, the evidence of which would be more suited to the museum hall than on the rubbish dump.' (Raymonde Moulin, in: Françoise Bonnefoy i.a. (eds.), Arman, exhib.cat. Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris and Wilhelm Hack Museum Ludwigshafen 1998, p.32f).

Certificate

The present work is registered under the number APA# 8208.74.136 in the Arman Studio Archives, New York, as well as under the number 9774 in the Archiv Denyse Durand-Ruel, Paris.