The winner will receive a hand-signed lithograph of Placid Way (1980) by artist Michael Knigin.

Print is numbered by the artist 74/245 and measures pproximately 31"x22".

Michael Knigin (1942-2011) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He did his undergraduate study at the noted Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Pa. Knigin later became director of Chiron Press, N.Y., a fine art silk-screen and lithography workshop. The shop remained in existence for seven years, printing and publishing editions for the most renowned contemporary artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Paul Jenkins. Mr. Knigin's images are acclaimed internationally. Knigin intermingles a variety of images, including photo, with the purpose of making specific statements. Most often, he juxtaposes natural images with man-made works, often photographically rendering parts of the imagery for effect.

The subjective content of Knigin's work illustrates his concern with specific themes: the dehumanization of mankind, the schism between modern man and nature, the apparent lack of concern with the "beautiful" and the "elegant" in the Mainstream of contemporary culture. With startling contrast, Knigin portrays the distances that have appeared in our lives between elements of nature and modern industrialized society. Always present is a profound sense of the whimsical, a touch of magic.