Born in 1932 in Tel Aviv, Menashe Kadishman studied for years under Moshe Sternschuss at the Avni Institute of Art and Design and then studied under Rudi Lehmann in Jerusalem. In 1959, he moved to London, where he attended Saint Martin's School of Art and the Slade School of Art and also studied under Anthony Caro and Reg Butler.

His sculptures of the 1960's were Minimalist in style, and so designed as to appear to defy gravity. This was achieved either through careful balance and construction, or by using glass and metal so that the metal appeared unsupported. Kadishman lived and worked in his studio in central Tel Aviv until his death in 2015. His works are in the collections of the Storm King Art Center, the Jewish Museum New York, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, among others.