DESCRIPTION: This 20 color lithograph is the artists interpretation of the verse in Ethics of the Fathers 4:17 "There are three crowns: The Crown of Torah, The Crown of Priesthood and the Crown of Royalty...and the Crown of a Good Name is higher than them all." We see from this that a person's good name and reputation that he has earned by doing good deeds is extremely important. The lithograph portrays this verse. In the center is a large Jewelled crown, the Crown of a Good Name, with a scene of Israel in the center. Underneath it is a garland of flowers connected by three smaller crowns.

The message this artwork conveys is appropriate for a Judaica collection. It is also a wonderful and complimentary gift for a person who is deserving of the "Crown of a Good Name".

ARTIST BI0GRAPHY: Today's renaissance of the traditional Jewish lifestyle has been accompanied by the blossoming of a multi-faceted Chasidic art movement. Michoel Muchnik, among the foremost Chassidic artists, has gained prominence with his joyfully imaginative renderings in acrylics, watercolors, and original lithographs. He frequently combines his delicate use of color and fine line work into a story book motif. Even at its most mystical, a Muchnik painting is inexplicably familiar.

Muchnik has staged exhibits of his original paintings, bas-relief mosaics and lithographs throughout the world. His originals have been displayed at the Brooklyn Museum, the Goldman Arts Gallery in Washington, D.C., Yeshiva University Museum in New York, Dansforth Museum in Massachusetts, the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Sharei Tzedek Collection in Israel. He recently created "The TreasuredLand", a 6' x 24' sculptural mural depicting the Land of Israel for the Jewish Children's Museum in New York.

Muchnik was born in 1952 in Philadelphia, Pa. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, and later studied at The Rabbinical College in Morristown, N.J., a Lubavitcher Yeshiva.