Menashe Kadishman (Hebrew: מנשה קדישמן; August 21, 1932 – May 8, 2015) was an Israeli sculptor and painter.
Biography
thumb|150px|Kadishman, 1954
Menashe Kadishman was born in Mandate Palestine to Bilha and Ben-Zion Kadishman. His father died when he was 15 years old. He left school to help his mother and provide for the family.
From 1947 to 1950, Kadishman studied with the Israeli sculptor Moshe Sternschuss at the Avni Institute of Art and Design under Aharon Avni in Tel Aviv, and in 1954 with the Israeli sculptor Rudi Lehmann in Jerusalem.
In 1950, Kadishman joined the Nahal infantry brigade In 1959-1960 he also studied with Anthony Caro and Reg Butler.
Art career
thumb|"Suspense," [[Israel Museum, Jerusalem]]
In the 1960s, Kadishman's sculptures were Minimalist in style, and so designed as to appear to defy gravity. This was achieved either through careful balance and construction, as in Suspense (1966), or by using glass and metal so that the metal appeared unsupported, as in Segments (1968). The glass allowed the environment to be part of the work.
The first major appearance of sheep in his work was at the 1978 Venice Biennale, where Kadishman presented a flock of colored live sheep as living art. In 1995, he began painting portraits of sheep by the hundreds, and even thousands, each one different from the next. These instantly recognizable sheep portraits soon became his artistic "trademark".
Awards and recognition
- 1960 the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship.
- 1981 Eugene Kolb Prize for Israeli Graphic Arts, Tel Aviv Museum Prize of the Jury
- 1981 Norwegian International Print Biennale, Fredrikstad.
- 1995 the Israel Prize, for sculpture.
- 2002 the Honorary Fellowship Award from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.