Painter, draughtsman, printmaker, designer, and writer on art, Avigdor Arikha was born to German Jewish parents in Rădăuţi, Romania on 28 April 1929. Between 1965 and 1973 he concentrated on drawing and etching; among his best-known works are his portraits of his close friend the writer Samuel Beckett. In later life he painted portraits, landscapes, interiors and still-lifes.