Pierre Arman, whose birth name was Armand Fernandez, was born in Nice, France in 1928. His father, an antique dealer and weekend painter, had moved the family from Algeria to southern France. Best known for his 'assemblages,' Arman divided his time between France and the United States. His first exposure to painting was the lessons given to him by his father. In 1946, he began his painting study at the Ecole Nationale d'Art Decoratif in Nice, where he also earned degrees in mathematics.