Jean Gorin

Albert Jean Gorin (2 December 1899 – 29 March 1981) was a French neoplastic painter and constructive sculptor.

He was a disciple of Piet Mondrian, and remained true to the concept of rigid geometricism and use of primary colors, but pushed the limits of neoplasticism by introducing circles and diagonals.

After the end of World War I (1914–18) he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris from 1919–22.

[1] In 1925 Gorin visited the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in Paris where the Pavillon de L’Esprit Nouveau showed work by Amédée Ozenfant and Le Corbusier.

It is diamond-shaped, reflecting the influence of Mondrian, and the very thick lines are similar to van Doesburg's work.

[1] In 1930 Gorin participated in the first exhibition of Seuphor's recently founded the Cercle et Carré group.

At the opening of the exhibition he met Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Freundlich, Joaquín Torres García and Vantongerloo.

He also began creating reliefs using planes set in space, and continued to study architecture.

[1] In 1946 Gorin, Auguste Herbin and Albert Gleizes launched the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, the first of a series of annual exhibitions devoted to "abstract/concrete/constructivist/non-figurative art.

He did not gain full recognition until major retrospectives were held between 1965 and 1973 in Nantes, Amsterdam, Paris, Grenoble and Saint Etienne.

The "white cube" is inconspicuous, but is essentially a neoplastic work, with interlocking geometric shapes.

[9] Gorin was the greatest French disciple of Mondrian, but pushed the principles of neoplasticism further than others by using reliefs, which developed into wall sculptures.

[2] He always used the primary colors of bright red, light yellow and ultramarine blue on white and black backgrounds.

His works were now truly three-dimensional, designed to retain harmony while viewed from different angles rather than as compositions seen only from the front.

[11] Some of Gorin's works may be seen in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.