Ahmed ben Driss el Yacoubi was a Moroccan painter, playwright, author, and storyteller.
11 Facts About Ahmed Yacoubi
1.
2.
Bowles and his wife, novelist and playwright Jane Bowles, encouraged Ahmed Yacoubi to draw and paint the characters in his own stories after seeing Ahmed Yacoubi's illustrations of his translations.
3.
Bowles was interested in recording music from different cultures, and invited Ahmed Yacoubi to translate for him in Spain, Italy, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Japan.
4.
Ahmed Yacoubi contributed to set design and construction for productions at La MaMa during the 1970s, including Arden of Faversham and Alfred Jarry's Ubu, directed by Andrei Serban in 1970, and Oh Taeseok's Jilsa, directed by Duk-Hyung Yoo in 1974.
5.
Ahmed Yacoubi evolved from what was described as a primitive style to a sophisticated secret technique of layering in oil glazes that produced canvases of great depth and complexity.
6.
Bacon and Ahmed Yacoubi painted together and remained friends for the duration of their lives.
7.
In 1966, Ahmed Yacoubi moved to the United States and continued to work prolifically, exhibit, and travel.
8.
Ahmed Yacoubi met and hosted a diversity of international artists, writers, art collectors, and politicians.
9.
Ahmed Yacoubi collaborated with friends at the couple's ranch in Tucson and, through this collaboration, published his cookbook, The Alchemist's Cookbook.
10.
Ahmed Yacoubi lived and travelled with an American writer named Ruth Marthen.
11.
Ahmed Yacoubi died of lung cancer on December 25,1985, at the age of 57.