With
Petite Victoire de Samothrace, Arman enters into a bold dialogue between Antiquity and contemporary art. He appropriates one of the world's most iconic sculptures : the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a Hellenistic masterpiece of the 2nd century BC housed in the Louvre. He transforms it through a singular artistic gesture: a miniature wooden musical instrument is embedded into the brown-patinated bronze, merging the winged goddess of victory with the musical universe that runs throughout Arman's entire body of work.
Created in 1990 and produced in an edition of 100, the sculpture is signed and numbered by the artist. Its compact dimensions (approximately 22 × 16 × 16 cm) make this an exceptional object, simultaneously intimate and charged with powerful symbolic resonance. It reflects Arman's enduring fascination with musical instruments, which appear throughout his Colères, Coupes and Accumulations from the 1960s onwards.
By choosing the Winged Victory as his starting point, Arman, co-founder of Nouveau Réalisme, extends his reflection on the value of objects and icons: what remains of a symbol once it is diverted, reappropriated, and transformed into artistic matter?
Available at the gallery.
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