Despite his many trips to Europe and his solid grounding in western art, Khayachi remained profoundly Tunisian. The further he travelled in Europe, and the more museums he visited, the deeper he felt his Tunisian roots.
‘Every painter as he moved around willingly kept, like a certificate of origin, the name of his native land, which he rendered, as he rendered himself, illustrious.’ Tunisia was engraved on his heart, and Tunisia was to form the basis of his painting.
After exploring the female world, Noureddine Khayachi turns his observant gaze on male society. This has given us some remarkable paintings, and a more complete view of Tunisian culture.
Most of the paintings in this chapter remain faithful to the master’s dictates: very little light, lots of people. An extraordinary host of characters peoples these scenes, and Khayachi shows great technical prowess in handling them.
