Arman was born as Armand Pierre Fernandez in Nice, France in 1928.  He studied Painting i Ecole Nationale d'Art Decoratif in Nice, where he also earned degrees in mathematics and philosophy.  Along with Yves Klein, Arman founded "Nuoveau Realisme", a group interested in creating different and new ways of thinking about real life and art.  Dividing his time between France and the United States, he began creating 'assemblages' from found objects in 1959.