DESCRIPTION: This beautiful 24 color, gold illuminated rendition of Joseph's Coat portrays the prophetic dreams which foretold Joseph's future geatness. The coat appears almost transparent, relaying a dreamlike aura carried throughout the work.

As the Torah (Bible) relates, Jacob had an overwhelming love for Joseph. He therefore presented Joseph with the famous coat of many colors. This act aroused jealousy of his brothers.

As a teenager, Joseph had prophetic dreams. In one dream, Joseph and his brothers were gathering wheat in a field. Suddenly, their eleven stalks of wheat rose to bow to his stalk of wheat. In an additional dream Joseph saw eleven stars, the sun, and the moon bowing to him. The stars represented his brothers, the sun his father, and the moon his mother. By relaying these dreams to his brothers, Joseph engendered their ridicule at the suggestion that one-day he who was the youngest, would eventually rule over them. This provoked their anger which lead to Joseph being sold into slavery.

As a slave in Egypt, Joseph suffered tremendously and was even imprisoned. While in his cell, Joseph interpreted a dream for the butler of Pharaoh. The dream spoke of squeezing grapes into a cup. This resulted in Joseph being released from prison to interpret Pharaohs dream. Josephs rise to power as the kings viceroy in Egypt followed. The prophecy in his dreams was ultimately fulfilled when the famine in Israel forced his brothers to come down to Egypt, and they did indeed bow down to him.

In addition to the symbols of Josephs dreams, the artist depicts the image of Jacobs tent and Rachels Tomb to express that despite all his struggles, Joseph never departed from the teachings of his parents.

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.