Photographer: Steve Benisty

Arman and I first met in New York in spring of 1968, and were reintroduced later in the summer of that year in the South of France by the same person.

Photographer: Jean Ferrero

I was definitely familiar with Picasso, Van Gogh, Van Eyck, Rembrandt, the Quatro cento etc. I had heard of Andy Warhol, but that was the extent of my introduction to contemporary art. As I’d never seen anything similar to it, Arman’s work was unconventional from my perspective, but I found that it resonated in its beauty and boldness, leaving me intrigued and inspired.

Photographer: Jean Ferrero

Arman was curious by nature, and had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He was a compulsive reader, throughout his life and in his youth, and he would devour any art related magazine he could put his hands on. He read the adventurous stories of the artists he admired, from Gauguin to his most venerated hero Vincent Van Gogh, as though they were novels, with excitement and delectation which were inspiring and as such opened a new creative and imaginative world to him.

Photographer: Vincent Cunillere

I was Arman’s greatest proponent during his lifetime and I continue to be that same person fifteen years since his untimely death in 2005. I maintained archives in New York for over 35 years. With Arman by my side during those years, we worked closely together in clarifying any misinformation. The Arman Committee is comprised of three members including myself. As my archives are the Official Arman Archives and based in New York, as such, my role on the committee is to continue what I have been doing for all these years, which is to reply to inquiries by providing as exact and as detailed information as possible. All research is done through the New York office. The results are then communicated to the other committee members, as a courtesy for their information. I also organize and collaborate on exhibitions and loans. I organize group visits to the studio as well.

In 2004, Arman wrote a hand written letter to Mr Jacques Chirac, the then President of the Republic, soliciting him to award me with the insignia of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, because, in his own words, I was instrumental in giving him the stability in his life to achieve the level of success he had gained in his artistic career.

Arman’s contribution to the art world community is immeasurable. He had been an inspiration to many throughout his career. He was a visionary, an innovator, a creator, a trail blazer, and not a follower. As such my mission is that of promoting and defending his work, his name, his honor and his many contributions.

In so doing, I will transform a portion of the home we shared together in the South of France into the Arman Foundation, which will keep his flame everlasting. This will be in recognition of his renown, and as a reminder to all of Arman’s remarkable influence and inspiration to younger artist today and for generations to come.

I am in the throes of working on the Arman Museum in Nice. Although he always said he didn’t want a mausoleum I am convinced this project will be a living, breathing homage to Arman at the level he would want. It will consist not solely of his works but of his universe of collections. I believe it is important to visit the many facets and dimensions of an artist, to better understand who they are and where they are coming from. Not only was he one of the greatest artists of our time, but he was also a humanitarian, void of egregiousness, and full of compassion for his fellow man.

My greatest wish would be to have exhibitions globally and semi-simultaneously to memorialize the 20th anniversary of his death, and thus keep the eternal flame alive.

Image Courtesy of the Arman Studio Archives, New York.