Vénus des Arts, Bronze sculpture in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, France

Vénus des Arts is a bronze sculpture in Saint-Germain-des-Prés that combines a female form with disassembled musical instruments including cello, piano, and flute arranged in fragmentary strips. The work uses decomposition as an artistic method to visually interweave classical and contemporary elements.

The work was created in 1992 by French artist Arman as part of his artistic exploration of deconstructed forms and musical instruments. Its creation came during a period when Arman refined his characteristic method of deconstruction and applied it to public spaces.

The title Vénus des Arts links the classical Venus figure to the arts named in the work: a cello, a piano and a flute are fixed onto the female form. Arman, a French painter and sculptor active from the 1950s, made the piece in 1992, and it stands in the street for passers-by rather than in a museum.

Vénus des Arts stands at street level on rue Jacques-Callot in the 6th arrondissement, in front of a building facade and beside parked motorcycles. The bronze figure on its low stone plinth is seen directly from the pavement, so it can be approached on foot at any hour while walking the Saint-Germain-des-Prés streets.

The bronze figure holds a small round shield or disc at its left side and wears a white cloth draped across its chest; a plaque on the stone plinth reads Vénus. The sculpture stands at street level in front of a building facade, flanked by parked motorcycles.