As one of Tunisia’s key figures in modernist painting, Néjib Belkhodja’s paintings combine experimental form with more classical techniques. In this work, the densely configured architectural elements, with overlapping arches and bands provide the viewer with an abstracted structure. This interest in building structures began in 1987 when Belkhodja joined the architect Slah Smaoui in designing and constructing the artistic village of Ken in Tunisia. Belkhodja studied at the School of Fine Arts in Tunis and began exhibiting locally in 1956. He continued his artistic career in Rome and Paris and was influenced by the art of Robert Delauney and Wassily Kandinsky. He exhibited in Europe and across North Africa and in Egypt. In 1991, he held a joint exhibition in Tunis with the Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi. In 2013, the opening of an exhibition of his work for visiting dignitaries and diplomats caused controversy when Tunisian citizens were banned from the same exhibition. Belkhodja’s art may be seen as a form of modernism that negotiates between the interest in heritage and the liberal vision of modernisation.