Yves Arman, born Yves Fernandez on September 18, 1954 in Nice, died on February 15, 1989, in Sarragosa, Spain. Yves was an art dealer, collector, and writer. The son of French-born American artist Arman, and French composer Eliane Radigue, Yves was named after his godfather, Arman's best friend Yves Klein. Yves moved to New York in 1975 and held an art gallery on Madison avenue in the late seventies and early eighties. In 1987 he moved to Monte Carlo where he had one child, a girl named Madison. Yves was a close friend of the American artist Keith Haring, who was Madison's godfather.
Yves Arman wrote the book Marcel Duchamp: Plays and Wins, on the work and ideas of Marcel Duchamp which was published by Marval Press in 1984 (ISBN 1299242022). He made a second book of photos with short comments entitled Etant donné qu'Eros c'est la vie, edited in 1888, on the theme of Marcel Duchamp's last work: Etant donnés 1° la chute d'eau, 2° le gaz d'éclairage. Yves's motto was "In art we trust," and as a note to Duchamp, "L'art c'est la vie"--"Art is life."
Famously a reckless driver, Yves Arman died in a car crash in 1989, while driving through Spain to meet with his family and Haring. Haring painted Yves' coffin with his famous icon of an angel, as Yves often wore a 1" pinback of this design.