Albert Jean Gorin was born at Saint-Emilien-de-Blain (Loire-Atlantique) December 2, 1899. From 1914-1916 he attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts at Nantes and then from 1919 to 1922, the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. Initially influenced by Matisse, Van Gogh, Cezanne and the Expressionist movement he discovered Cubism in 1923 and was particularly impressed by Albert Gleizes’ book Du Cubisme (Paris 1921) After a period painting primarily in a pure Cubist vein, Gorin executed his first abstract painting in 1925 and in 1926 discovered the work of Piet Mondrian. Further development of the Cubist aesthetic resulted in an interest in furniture design and avant-garde architectural applications.