Art and designמנשה קדישמן

Menashe Kadishman

Menashe Kadishman was an Israeli sculptor and painter, known for his sheep portraits and public sculptures, and a recipient of the Israel Prize for sculpture in 1995.

1932 to 2015Sheep portrait paintingsThe sculpture The Sacrifice of IsaacThe Uprise sculpture in Tel AvivIsrael Prize for sculpture

Born: 21 August 1932, Tel Aviv
Died: 8 May 2015, Tel Aviv
Occupation: artisan, sculptor, painter, printmaker
Education: Uman, Slade School of Fine Art, Avni Institute of Art and Design

Menashe Kadishman was born in 1932 in Tel Aviv

Menashe Kadishman was born in Tel Aviv in 1932 to Bilha and Ben-Zion Kadishman. His father made aluminum cutouts as a hobby. As a youth he was active in the Gordonia youth movement.

From 1947 to 1950 he studied sculpture with Moshe Sternschuss, and he later studied with Rudi Lehmann. In 1959 he moved to London, where he studied at Saint Martin's School of Art and the Slade School and worked with Anthony Caro.

In 1950 he joined the Nahal and was posted to Kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch, where he worked as a shepherd. This time with sheep shaped much of his later art.

In the 1960s his sculptures were minimalist and seemed to defy gravity. He had his first solo show in London in 1965, showed at Documenta in Kassel in 1968, and presented a flock of colored live sheep at the 1978 Venice Biennale. He returned to Israel in 1972 and from 1995 painted thousands of sheep portraits.

He was divorced and had 2 children. He died at Sheba Medical Center on May 8, 2015, and was buried in Kiryat Shaul cemetery.