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Ursula von Rydingsvard
b. 1942

Ursula von Rydingsvard b. 1942

  • Biography
  • WORKS
  • Select Exhibitions
  • NEWS & EVENTS
  • PRESS
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • Contact Form
  • Over a remarkable five-decade-long career, Ursula von Rydingsvard has become one of the most influential sculptors working today. She is...
    Installation view of Bent Lace, 2014 in The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, The Museum of Modern Art, 2015. Photo: John Wronn.
    Over a remarkable five-decade-long career, Ursula von Rydingsvard has become one of the most influential sculptors working today. She is best known for creating large-scale, often monumental sculpture from cedar beams, which she painstakingly cuts and assembles before finally rubbing a graphite patina into the work’s textured, faceted surfaces. Her signature abstract shapes refer to things in the real world—vessels, bowls, tools, and other objects—each revealing the mark of the human hand while also summoning natural forms and forces. In recent years, von Rydingsvard has explored other mediums in depth, such as bronze, paper, and resin, continuing to expand upon her unique artistic vocabulary. The artist’s large-scale bronze works can be found in many public spaces.
  • “I can dig into things that are tender, that are hard to look at, that are hard to communicate, more in my studio than I can with any other thing, like words.”
    —Ursula von Rydingsvard
  • Von Rydingsvard’s work is represented in the permanent collections of 40 museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;...
    Installation view of Bronze Bowl with Lace 2013-14 at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, United Kingdom, 2014.

    Von Rydingsvard’s work is represented in the permanent collections of 40 museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Missouri; Storm King Art Center, New York; Art Institute of Chicago and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Permanent commissioned sculptures by von Rydingsvard are on view in multiple public locations including the San Francisco International Airport, California; Stanford University, Palo Alto, California; Princeton University, New Jersey; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; Bloomberg Corporation, New York; and Barclays Center, New York; among others. Recent solo museum exhibitions include Ursula von Rydingsvard: Nothing but Art, a touring retrospective in Poland that was held at the Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko; Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw, and National Museum in Krakow; Ursula von Rydingsvard: The Contour of Feeling at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Pennsylvania; Now, She, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK and a solo presentation at the 56th Venice Biennale, Italy. A documentary feature about the artist’s practice Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own was released in 2019.

    Von Rydingsvard was born 1942 in Deensen, Germany. She has lived and worked in New York City for 49 years.

    Download CV
  • Ursula von Rydingsvard Luba, 2009–10 Cedar, cast bronze, graphite Height: 17.5 feet (5.3 m) Collection Storm King Art Center (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of Uroda, 2015 at Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Elegantka, 2010 Cast resin 98 x 37 x 36 inches (249 x 94 x 91.4 cm) Collection De Cordova Museum and Sculpture Park Photo: © Andy Ryan, 2011. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    SCIENTIA, 2016 Bronze Height: 25 feet (7.6 m) Collection The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Photo: Jerry L. Thompson. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of Damski Czepek, 2006 in Madison Square Park, New York, 2006. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Luba, 2009–10. Collection Storm King Art Center.

  • WORKS
    • VODOVA, 2022

      VODOVA, 2022

    • do nocy, 2022

      do nocy, 2022

    • OGRÒDEK, 2022

      OGRÒDEK, 2022

    • GRZEBIEŃ BIATY, 2022

      GRZEBIEŃ BIATY, 2022

    • OBUDOWAĆ, 2020-21

      OBUDOWAĆ, 2020-21

    • CISZA, 2020-21

      CISZA, 2020-21

    • Roaming Rudia II, 2019

      Roaming Rudia II, 2019

    • Untitled, 2019

      Untitled, 2019

    • Untitled, 2019

      Untitled, 2019

  • Select Exhibitions

    • Ursula von Rydingsvard: LUBA
      Exhibitions

      Ursula von Rydingsvard: LUBA

      27 October - 17 December 2022 Galerie Lelong Exhibitions
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard: TORN
      Exhibitions

      Ursula von Rydingsvard: TORN

      3 May - 23 June 2018 Galerie Lelong Exhibitions
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard: The Contour of Feeling, The Fabric Workshop and Museum
      Exhibitions

      Ursula von Rydingsvard: The Contour of Feeling

      The Fabric Workshop and Museum 27 April - 26 August 2018 Museum & Public Exhibitions
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
      Exhibitions

      Ursula von Rydingsvard

      Yorkshire Sculpture Park 5 April 2014 - 4 January 2015 Museum & Public Exhibitions
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard, Collateral Event of the 56th Venice Biennale
      Exhibitions

      Ursula von Rydingsvard

      Collateral Event of the 56th Venice Biennale 6 May - 22 November 2015 Museum & Public Exhibitions
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard: Permeated Shield
      Exhibitions

      Ursula von Rydingsvard: Permeated Shield

      23 October - 13 December 2014 Galerie Lelong Exhibitions
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard: ERRĀTUS
      Exhibitions

      Ursula von Rydingsvard: ERRĀTUS

      18 March - 1 May 2010 Galerie Lelong Exhibitions
  • NEWS & EVENTS

    • Ursula von Rydingsvard, Bronze Bowl with Lace, Tippet Rise Art Center, Fishtail, Montana
      News

      Ursula von Rydingsvard

      Bronze Bowl with Lace, Tippet Rise Art Center, Fishtail, Montana November 2024–ongoing
    • Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Blackened Word, 2008, Buffalo AKG Art Museum
      News

      Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Blackened Word, 2008

      Buffalo AKG Art Museum Ongoing
      Ursula von Rydingsvard's Blackened Word (2008) is now on view at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, New York.
    • Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Untitled (Seven Mountains), 1986-1988, University of Texas, Austin
      News

      Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Untitled (Seven Mountains), 1986-1988

      University of Texas, Austin ONGOING

      Ernest Cockrell Jr. Hall, University of Texas
      Austin, Texas
      Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
      Ongoing

    • Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Gusta, 2018, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
      News

      Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Gusta, 2018

      Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Ongoing
      Ursula von Rydingsvard's Gusta (2018) is now on view at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building (Atrium Floor 2).
    • Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Wide Babelki Bowl, 2007, Hood Museum of Art
      News

      Work on view: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Wide Babelki Bowl, 2007

      Hood Museum of Art Ongoing

      Dartmouth College
      Hanover, New Hampshire
      Ongoing

  • PRESS

    • Artnet News, Wet Paint in the Wild
      Press

      Artnet News

      Wet Paint in the Wild November 3, 2022
    • Artsy, For Ursula von Rydingsvard, Making Art Is a Way to Survive
      Press

      Artsy

      For Ursula von Rydingsvard, Making Art Is a Way to Survive April 16, 2018
    • Sculpture Magazine, Post-Emerging: Ursula von Rydingsvard
      Press

      Sculpture Magazine

      Post-Emerging: Ursula von Rydingsvard April 27, 2014
    • Financial Times, Sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard prepares for her first British show
      Press

      Financial Times

      Sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard prepares for her first British show March 8, 2014
  • Documentary Feature

    Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own (2020)
  • PUBLICATIONS

    • The Sculpture of Ursula von Rydingsvard, Dore Ashton, Marek Bartelik, and Matti Megged
      Publications

      The Sculpture of Ursula von Rydingsvard

      Dore Ashton, Marek Bartelik, and Matti Megged
      Published by Hudson Hills Press ISBN: 9781555951221
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Molly Donovan
      Publications

      Ursula von Rydingsvard at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

      Molly Donovan
      Published by Yorkshire Sculpture Park ISBN: 9781908432100
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard: The Contour of Feeling, Mark Rosenthal and Susan Lubowsky Talbott
      Publications

      Ursula von Rydingsvard: The Contour of Feeling

      Mark Rosenthal and Susan Lubowsky Talbott
      Published by The Fabric Workshop and Museum and Hirmer Publishers ISBN: 978-3-7774-2999-1
    • Ursula von Rydingsvard: Working, Patricia C. Phillips and Helaine Posner
      Publications

      Ursula von Rydingsvard: Working

      Patricia C. Phillips and Helaine Posner
      Published by Prestel ISBN: 9783791350868
  • Contact Form

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