Jean Albert Gorin - Composition no. 3 Emanating from the Equilateral Triangle 1926, enamel on canvas, 68,5 x 59,5 cm, verso signed and dated: GORIN 1926, verso inscribed: COMPOSITION N ́3, CN 20 and old stamp Provenance: private collection Publicated: - Van Doesburg & the Internationala Avant-Garde, constructing a New World, (edited by Gladys Frabre & Doris Wingens Hotte), Tate Publishing, 2009, reproduced on the page 210, no. 174 - Jan Gorin, L ́oeuvre de Jean Gorin, (author Marianne Le Pommeré), Waser Verlag, Zurich, 1985, reproduced on the page 127, no. 62 P Exhibited: - Nantes 1930, Première Exposition de la néo-plastique, Galerie L’Etrave - Nantes 1965 (27. 02.–30. 03.), Retrospective Jean Gorin, Musée des Beaux-arts - Paris 1974, Exposition Abstraction Création, (15. 03.–15. 04.), 13 Rue Saint Honoré, Paris 1 - Nantes 1977 (11. 05.–27. 06.), Retrospective Jean Gorin, Musée des Beaux-arts - Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden (20. 10. 2009–03. 01. 2010), Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World – London 2010 (04. 02.–16. 05.), Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World, TATE Gallery London - Brussels 2016 (26. 02.–29. 05.), Theo van Doesburg. Une nouvelle expression de a vie, de l‘art et de la technologie Mondrian said of Jean Gorin that he was „the only French neo-plastic artist“. Gorin discovered Mondrian’s oeuvre in 1926, in an issue of Vouloir, a small art magazine published in Lille, which contained an article by the Dutch master and reproductions of his paintings. The same journal introduced him to Georges Vantongerloo‘s artistic research, with whom he immediately corresponded, cu- rious to know more about his differences with Mondrian on color theory. Our Composition No 3 Emanating from Equilateral Triangle, dated 1926, be- longs to a series that Gorin produced following this exchange of letters and which marks his adherence to the neoplastic philosophy and to the principles of a painting executed in a neutral style, based on the orthogonal and asym- metrical arrangement of planes of colors reduced to three primary colors to which white and gray are added. The ratios of surfaces and values, delimited by horizontal and vertical black lines, are the expression of a universal harmony evoking that of the cosmos. Like his Belgian colleague, Gorin considered pain- ting to be a science in search of absolute truth. This canvas is a free interpretation of Vantongerloo ́s sketch, with modifications in the division of the surface as well as the separation of the colors and values. The gyratory rhythm created by the development of the planes is contrasted by the colors of Gorin ́s canvas. Vantongerloo ́s influence is equally apparent in Max Bill ́s painting Horizontal-Vertical Rhythm (1943) which is very similar to this painting by Gorin. The Composition No 3 is based on the drawing and theories of Georges Van- tongerloo, communicated by him to Gorin. (See M. Le Pommeré, The Works of Jean Gorin, Waser Verlag, Zurich, 1985, p. 510). Jean Gorin was a French neoplastic painter and constructive sculptor. He was a disciple of Piet Mondrian and remained true to the concept of rigid geome- tricism and use of primary colors but pushed the limits of neoplasticism by introducing circles and diagonals. He was also known for his three-dimensional reliefs. Early years: Albert Jean Gorin was born on December 02, 1899 in Saint-Émilien-de-Blain, Loire-Atlantique. His father made shoes and his mother managed a small hotel with a restaurant. He attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Nantes in 1914– 1916. After the end of World War I (1914–1918) he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris from 1919–1922. He was influenced by Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and the Expressionists. Gorin was unable to obtain a job teaching drawing. He settled in Nort-sur- Erdre, near Nantes and began painting, while working to earn a living. In 1923 he discovered cubism and was strongly influenced by the book Du Cubisme (1921) by Albert Gleizes. For a period, he painted in cubist style. In 1925 he made his first abstract painting. As an extension of Cubist aesthetics, he became interested in furniture design and avant-garde architecture. 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. For a short period, he experimented with Purism. Neoplasticism: In 1926 Gorin saw for the first time one of Piet Mondrian‘s neoplastic compo- sitions, and one of Theo van Doesburg‘s elementarist compositions. He read the pamphlet L’Art et son avenir by Georges Vantongerloo. This led to correspondence with Mondrian and Vantongerloo, and then a meeting with Mondrian the same year, the start of a long friendship. Gorin also met Michel Seuphor, an art critic. Around this time Gorin began painting in the neoplastic style. Gorin‘s Composition no. 3 (1926) is a beautiful early example of his neoplastic style. It is reflecting the influence of Mondrian, and the lines are like van Doesburg‘s work. Gorin exhibited for the first time in April 1928 at Lille with the S.T.U.C.A.. Others at this show included Mondrian and César Domela. 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, So- phie Taeuber-Arp, Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Freundlich, Joaquín Torres García and Vantongerloo. Mondrian apparently considered that reliefs were a natural step in the evolution of painting towards architecture. He encouraged Gorin to make re- liefs. Gorin began to explore neoplastic architecture and decoration. He created his first neoplastic relief in 1930 and created three-dimensional work for the remainder of the inter-war period. Mondrian praised Gorin‘s relief work highly, saying it went „further“ than he himself had taken painting. In 1931 Gorin was one of the founders of the 1940 association of artists. He exhibited there with Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. He also participated in the new Abstraction-Création group of painters. In 1932 he went to the Soviet Union to study art and architecture. On the way he met Naum Gabo in Berlin. Later he met constructivist architects Moisei Ginzburg and Konstantin Melni- kov. The work of the Russian constructivist Kazimir Malevich was to have a major influence on his work, if secondary to that of Mondrian. In 1934 Gorin joined the Association Abstraction-Création. In 1936 Gorin helped edit the last issue of the Abstraction-Création – Art Non-Figuratif almanac, for a membership of almost four hundred. In 1937 he sold his house in Nort-sur-Erdre and destroyed much of his work, then moved to Le Vésinet. During World War II (1939–1945) Gorin was conscripted into the army. He became a prisoner of war in 1942. After being released, in 1944 Gorin resumed painting. He also began creating reliefs using planes set in space and continued to study architecture. He settled in Grasse for a while, where he had a shop in which he sold objects d’art and decoration in 1946 Gorin, Auguste Herbin and Albert Gleizes launched the Sa- lon des Réalités Nouvelles, the first of a series of annual exhibitions devoted to abstract/concrete/constructivist/non-figurative art. Gorin participated in many other exhibitions of abstract art in Europe and the United States. Gorin often moved in the years that followed. He would make and photograph sculptures, then destroy them since he did not have space to keep them. He did not gain full recognition until major retrospectives were held between 1965 and 1973 in Nantes, Amsterdam, Paris, Grenoble, and Saint Etienne. Gorin drew up plans for a house which was built in the St. Pezenne district of Niort in 1967–1968. The „white cube“ is inconspicuous, but is essentially a neoplastic work, with interlocking geometric shapes. However, planning re- strictions prevented him painting it in primary colors. The house is small, with a main room, bedroom and kitchen, and a bathroom that can only be accessed from the outside. Gorin and his wife were naturists and ate only vegetables from his garden. Although he made the house his base for the rest of his life, he also stayed in a house he owned in Meudon and traveled extensively. Jean Gorin died on 29 March 1981 in Niort, Deux-Sèvres. His wife, Susan Go- rin, died in 1995 and his property at Niort was put up for sale. Surprisingly, no effort was made to protect the house, the only one of his architectural projects to be realized. Work 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. He always used the primary colors of bright red, light yellow and ultramarine blue on white and black backgrounds. His polychrome sculptures were very unusual for the time. He broke from Mondrian‘s rule of allowing only horizontal and vertical lines. While remaining true to neoplasticist geometric rigor, he introduced circles and diagonals. The angles may be unexpected, far from 45°. Between 1958 and 1962 Gorin was absorbed in painting the con- trast between the circle and the linear network. After that he returned to relief. 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. An example of later work is his Construction spatiale verticale n°101. It was made between 1968 and 1971 and is held in the French National Museum of Modern Art. A copy was made in 1983 under the direction of Serge Lemoine and is held by the University of Burgundy. The monumental sculpture is 9 metres (30 ft) high and 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) wide, made of carefully balanced geometric shapes of steel and aluminum painted in primary colors. Some of Gorin‘s works may be seen in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The Museum of Grenoble holds several of his works. Other exhibitions: - 1928, Lille: Neoplastic work with the STUCA group - 1930, Paris: Exhibition with the Cercle et Carré group created by Michel Seuphorand Torrès-Garcia - 1930, Nantes: with the L’Etrave artistic group - 1931, Paris: Display of his first relief in an exhibition of Groupe *1940 - 1945, Paris: Exposition Art concret, Galerie René Drouin. - 1946, Paris: Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, of which he was secretary - 1948, New York: Exposition of abstract constructive art - 1957, Paris: 50 years of abstract paintings organized by the Creuze gallery (first one-man show at the Galerie Colette Allendy) - 1958, Saint-Étienne: The first generations of abstract art - 1960, Liège: Musée de l’Art Wallon - 1965, Nantes: Retrospective at the Musée des Beaux-Arts - 1966, Chicago: Exposition at the Kazimir Gallery - 1967, Amsterdam: Retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum - 1969, Paris: Retrospective at the Centre national d’art contemporain - 1974, Paris: Exhibition at the Galerie Denise René - 1977, Nantes: Retrospective at the Musée des Beaux-Arts - 1977, Paris: Centre Pompidou - 1999, Blain: Hommage du mouvement Madi à Gorin, Château de la Groulais – 1999, Grenoble: Exposition Jean Gorin