Hédi Khayachi

[1] His father came from an aristocratic line linked to the prophet Muhammad,[2] which settled in Tripolitania before establishing themselves in Tunis during the time of Al-Husayn I ibn Ali at-Turki.

Having a fondness for painting, Khayachi frequented the free academies in Montparnasse and received an artistic education in Rome, where he was instructed in portraiture and visited the European museums.

In 1908, he produced official portraits of the Husseinite Beys and then worked for several leading families and high dignitaries,[3] which allowed him to be described as the major portraitist in Tunisian painting.

Most of his works, therefore, are portraits, but Khayachi also painted landscapes and scenes of traditional life and customs in the houses of the middle-classes, as well as more modest homes.

Khayachi appeared amongst the group of forerunners in Tunisian painting: Pierre Boucherle, Yahia Turki, Moses Lévy, Jules Lellouche, Ali Bellagha, Ammar Farhat, Maurice Bismouth, Hatem El Mekki and Edgard Naccache.