The story of Arman’s name change is curious. He was an admirer of the works of Van Gogh, who omitted his first name in signing his paintings. Thus, Armand Fernandez decided to become simply Armand. Then in 1958, a Paris gallery, Galerie du Haut-Pave, mistakenly left off the ‘d’ of Armand. Upset at first, he later preferred to be known as Arman. In 1973, he changed his name to Armand Pierre Arman after becoming an U.S. citizen.

Arman began his Accumulations in 1959, where collections of like, everyday objects were crowded together in boxes, or vitrines. The objects were not arranged, expressing an element of chance in his work.

Along with Yves Klein, the two became founding members of the “Nouveau Realisme”, a group interested in creating different and new ways of thinking about real life and art. Yves Klein opened an exhibition entitled Le in 1958, consisting of empty gallery space to intrigue viewers about non-material things. Arman responded in 1960 with his exhibition of Le Plein, in which he filled the gallery with debris he collected from the streets of Paris. These non-utilized items, he believed, had their own distinctive worth, which should not be lost. In 1961, Arman visited New York City for the first time, and his work was shown as part of an exhibition called The Art of Assemblage at the Museum of Modern Art.