Raya Sorkine is born "Alain Sorkine" in Paris in 193, but because of the mutual adoration of mother and son, the painter signs his work with his mother's name. His childhood was steeped in the stories and customs of his ancestors, and this Central-European Jewish culture resounds trough out his paintings, illuminated as they are by traditional Jewish festivities and music. But his work cannot be limited to this influence which, though it is certainly primordial, is not be only one.

Sorkine died in March 2022.