The majority of women in Essaouira in the 1970s were still wearing the “haïk”, a long piece of cotton or wool fabric which they would wrap around their body and head. This ancient garment, practically unchanged since times immemorial was but one more manifestation of the seemingly eternal dimension of the world and life in general in a society and culture Michel was slowly discovering.


The artist that he is became fascinated by the mysterious aura of these draped women whose mere sight evoked in him scenes from a carnival. Over a period of 30 years Michel would paint them relentlessly and in so doing had the feeling of having resolved, if only for himself, the 20th century’s grand schism in art opposing abstract and figurative schools. How vividly he remembered his painter father’s struggle to come to terms with this dilemma.

painter father’s struggle to come to terms with this dilemma.