From the files of John Gibson Gallery: 3 black and white photos by Harry Shunk- 2 photos are installation shots both as reproduced on the title spread in the (included) exhibition catalogue “Arman· Selected Activities,” 1973, John Gibson Gallery and 1 black and white photo by Harry Shunk titled “Gueridon Case” (broken table on black panel), 1961 also reproduced in the catalogue (this photo was possibly used for the catalog mark-up); 1 black and white photo as reproduced on the cover of the catalogue titled “Le Plein,” Iris Clert Gallery, Paris, 1960, photographer unknown;  3 black and white photos of “Exécutant Concerto Flamboyant” from 1966, photographer unknown; 1 black and white photograph of an Arman piece dated in ink 1971 and stamped Monique Knowlton Gallery, NYC and Eeva-Inkari, NYC, photographer unknown; 2 black and white photographs from a Gérard Martron exhibition per written text on the back of the photos, photographer unknown.

Arman (1928 –2005) was an original founding member of Nouveau Realism, an art movement started in France in 1960, dedicated to finding “…new ways of perceiving the real.”  The artists in this movement were interested in new ways in which to create art, and in the process subvert the status quo. Arman first created works made from the ink or paint traces of objects (“cachets”) and then moved into making paintings composed of actual objects. Arman developed his most recognizable style between the years 1959 to 1962. It centered on his two most renowned concepts: “accumulation” and “poubelle” (“trash bin”). The “accumulations” were collections of multiple common and identical objects and the “poubelles” were collections of strewn refuse. 

John Gibson (1933-2019) founded John Gibson Gallery, New York City in 1967. The gallery closed in 2001. The gallery is recognized for the Minimalist , land art, arte povera, conceptual artists and European artists it represented and whose careers it helped launch. Gibson was known for spearheading large scale artworks by such artists as Christo, Donald Judd, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt and Gerald Lang. He notably claimed, according to Rosalind Constable, writing in New Yorkmagazine in 1969, “I’m interested in selling people the Brooklyn Bridge or the Eiffel Tower”—things collectors couldn’t take away in their pockets or put on a shelf.