Lot 136
136
Arman (1928-2005)
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MICHELINE AND CLAUDE RENARD '“It was as if they had opened the doors to a palace and I was free to help myself'” Arman said of Claude Renard and the Renault Factory’s project for Contemporary art.' The factory was one of the churches of my religion.'. It was in 1967 that Claude Renard one of the directors of Renault first suggested to his President Pierre Dreyfus the ambitious idea of the company funding a project to focus on contemporary art. After getting the go ahead, Renard then asked the artists and friends he had met while still a fairly young and anonymous collector for help to build this innovative corporate collection. The intention was to use the collection as neither a promotional tool nor as an investment but as a bridge between the worlds of art and industry. Among the artists whose help and ideas Renard enlisted were Arman, Jean Dubuffet, Victor Vasarely, Jesús Raphael Soto, Jean Tinguely, Gundmundur Err o and Antoni Tàpies. Renard’s wife Micheline also helped him in developing this new project and together they created what was to be the first French corporate collection. Collecting for Renault over the following two decades, the Renards supported and collaborated with many artists and in parallel, acquired an impressive personal collection of their work. As a result of their close working relationship with the majority of the artists whose work they collected, much of the Renard’s collection consists of work that was specially made for them.
Arman (1928-2005)

Accumulation Renault no. 156 (Persèpolis)

Details
Arman (1928-2005)
Accumulation Renault no. 156 (Persèpolis)
incised 'Arman 69' (lower left quadrant)
sawn-off steel cylinder heads on two panels
82¼ x 75 1/8 x 4 3/8in. (209 x 190.7 x 11cm.)
Executed in 1969
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner.
Literature
Arman, accumulations Renault, exh. cat., Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum 1969, p. 78.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

'At a certain point, Yves Klein and I had divided the world between the two of us like Empire Barons. He had told me : 'I will take the organic side of things and you can take the manufactured one'. (Arman in Arman: 33 accumulations, exh. cat., Amsterdam 1969, n.p.).


This work is registered in the Archives Denyse Durand-Ruel under no. 4647 and will be included in the forthcoming Arman catalogue raisonné being prepared by Denyse Durand-Ruel, Paris.

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