DESCRIPTION: This 22 color gold illuminated lithograph Muchnik is one of Muchnik's series of the Seven Fruits of Israel. A fig tree is depicted with a nameplate at bottom in Hebrew.

Underneath the fig tree is a verse in Hebrew from Song of Songs which King Solomon wrote.

The Fig tree has formed its small figs ready to ascent to the Temple (Song of Songs 2:13).

Some commentaries explain that this verse refers to the Basket of the First Fruits that were brought to the Holy Temple anually.

ARTIST INFORMATION: : 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.

Born in Philadelphia in 1952, Muchnik received his artistic training at Rhode Island School of Design. He later studied at the Rabbinical College of America, in Morristown, New Jersey.

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.