Origins Gallery in Stockbridge, MA. was opened in 1997 by Albert Gordon along with partner and best friend Judith Schuchalter. Initially containing works of art that were put into storage when he retired from his Manhattan gallery in 1985, the gallery features a wide variety of distinctive masks, figures, and artifacts personally collected in the remote villages of Africa. Some of the collectibles include a diverse selection of ceremonial masks, ritual statues, musical instruments, royal stools and thrones, fertility and fetish objects from all parts of Africa. Some recent trips have also brought beautiful sculptures from Asia.

In 1968 Gordon had opened Tribal Arts Gallery in Manhattan, the culmination of a life-long fascination with African art. An instant success, he was soon distributing African sculpture to galleries, museums, department stores and private collectors. Many pieces from his collections can now be found in museums throughout the world.

Originally from Belgium, Gordon became interested in African art as a student at the Sorbonne in Paris. He taught history in New York City after receiving his Master's degree from Columbia University. Continued interest in the history, culture, and art of Africa eventually led to his first extensive collecting trip through Africa in 1963, followed by over fifty collecting trips thereafter. Joined by Glens Falls born Schuchalter on several of his collecting trips, it is she who now principally presides over the busy gallery’s daily operations, having originally studied African art at City University of N.Y. She is also especially drawn to ceremony and ritual as a descendant of a 500 year old Russian-Now-American rabbinical family.

Today Gordon remains semi-retired from business in order to pursue his many personal interests. In the intervening years he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, ran a presidential primary campaign in New Hampshire, published the Peace Divided Newsletter, worked on a book about collecting art in West Africa and a film documentary on Mali, set up a craft cooperative in Vietnam, and has traveled extensively. He maintains residences in New York City, and upstate in Stephentown, NY. His grandson Eli, 3, is known to happily demonstrate the dancing use of African masks.