Whether it is a single tomato or a portrait of the Queen Mother, Arikha's figurative works have gained the admiration of his contemporaries and the approval of many art critics. Both his life and career have been full of dramatic changes: he spent his early years in Nazi concentration camps and then grew up on a kibbutz in Israel. He first became known as an abstract painter, then he concentrated on drawing before arriving at his current style of "painting from life".
Omnibus travels with him to New York for an exhibition of his work, and to Israel - which he still finds a major source of inspiration. Arikha is also seen at work on a portrait in his Paris studio, talking to photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and recalling his friend and mentor Samuel Beckett.

(Stereo) (Teletext subtitles: p 888)