Menashe Kadishman was born in 1932 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He studied with the Israeli sculptor Moshe Sternschuss at the Avni Institute of Art and Design in Tel Aviv from 1947 to 1950 and in 1954 he studied with the Israeli sculptor Rudi Lehmann in Jerusalem.
In 1959, Kadishman moved to London, where he attended the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Art. During 1959 and 1960 he also studied with Anthony Caro and Reg Butler. He remained in London until 1972. In 1965 he had his first one-man show there, at the Grosvenor Gallery, which was followed by many exhibitions and commissions by public institutions world wide.