Quite possibly Israel’s most famous artist, Kadishman is best known for his colorful portrait paintings of sheep and evocative iron sculptures. Winner of the prestigious Israel Prize for sculp- ture, Kadishman represented Israel at the 1978 Venice Biennale where his work made an international stir.
 

The artist’s most iconic works stemmed from his years working as a shepherd on a kibbutz. The sheep/ram became the major motif in his work. The former shepherd Kadishman once stated, "sheep are a part of me” and used his art to imbue the animal with a holy-like reverence.
 

His portrait paintings of sheep are at once a symbol of the spirit of the pioneers who built the modern state of Israel and a reference to the biblical sacrifice of Isaac, which represents the sacrifice of fathers and mothers who send their sons to war and thus the sheep becomes a symbol for young soldiers in battle, for vic- tims of war. For Kadishman, sac- rifice is part of the cycle of Israeli life.
 

His work can be found in perma- nent collections of numerous pres- tigious international art museums including the Metropolitan Muse- um of Art in NYC, MOMA, The Tate Gallery London, and the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.