24-284 Michael Knigin 1979 Pop Art Silkscreen Print

Striking Pop-Art image by Michael Jay Knigin titled “The Reflection of Sugatami,” After Utamaro. Numbered 88/300. Signed “Knigin 79 ©.” The condition is good. The image is 9×13½ inches on a larger sheet. A surrealist / Pop-Art silkscreen print depicting a Japanese kabuki actor admiring her reflection in a mirror, superimposed on a color photo of the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan. The composition is a bit surreal because the background skyline appears in the mirror. The ink is bright and in excellent condition. Some signs of handling and age-related age foxing. Currently unframed. Marked on the back “H. Walter Smith 1979” − the name of the printer.

Michael Jay Knigin (New York, 1942-2011) received his degree from Tyler School of Art. He owned a print shop serving artists including Warhol and Lichtenstein. He taught printmaking at Pratt Institute. Michael’s work is in the Whitney, Albright-Knox, The Cooper Hewitt, The Israel Museum, and the Smithsonian.

The source image is Sugatami Shichinin Keshō (姿見七人化粧, “Seven Women Applying Make-up Using a Mirror”, c. 1793) by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806). It is believed to be a portrait of the tea-house girl Naniwa O-Kita.