New Realism

…at the forefront of the New Realism movement with his radical compressions (compacted automobiles, discarded metal, or rubbish), expansions (polyurethane foam sculptures), and fantastic representations of animals and insects.

The French Nouveau Réaliste (“New Realist”) group was of central importance, its most prominent members being Yves Klein, Arman (Armand Fernandez), Jean Tinguely, and Daniel Spoerri. The group initially coalesced around a manifesto written by the critic Pierre Restany that asserted that since easel painting was dead,…