Ursula von Rydingsvard, a sculptor renowned for her monumental works made from hundreds of cedar beams, died on Tuesday at her home in Manhattan at the age of 84. Her studio manager, Courtney Childress, confirmed the death and attributed it to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Von Rydingsvard was widely recognized for her distinctive use of four-by-four cedar beams, which she and her assistants meticulously marked, distressed with circular saws, and assembled into large, flowing structures. These sculptures often suggested natural forms such as cave walls, waves, seashells, or ancient trees. Her work blended repetitive, minimalist elements with organic, carved shapes, setting her apart from the austere tendencies of the Minimalist movement while aligning her work in dialogue with the more biomorphic sculptures of artists like Louise Bourgeois and Eva Hesse.
Born Urszula Karoliszyn on July 26, 1942, in Deensen, Germany, von Rydingsvard was the daughter of a Ukrainian father and a Polish mother. Her early years were marked by hardship, including time spent in displaced-persons camps after World War II. The family emigrated to the United States in 1950, settling in Plainville, Connecticut. There, she contributed to household duties and worked alongside her mother at a local restaurant.
Von Rydingsvard pursued art education at the University of New Hampshire before transferring to the University of Miami, where she earned a B.A. and M.A. She later obtained an M.F.A. from Columbia University in 1975 after moving to Manhattan. Initially working with paint and other materials, she gradually found her signature medium of cedar beams, a discovery she credited to the encouragement of a fellow student. She described cedar as yielding and sensuous, qualities that helped bring the organic forms she envisioned to life.
Her sculptures are noted for their complex synthesis of additive and subtractive techniques—stacking, carving, marking, and assembling components to create works that appear both constructed and naturally grown. While rooted in minimalism through their repetitive elements, the pieces convey a distinctly tactile and intimate presence, allowing for multiple interpretations relating to memory, labor, and catharsis. Von Rydingsvard herself often linked her art to memories of the wooden barracks she experienced in displaced-persons camps.
Her career included residencies at the American Academy in Rome, and she was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She received multiple honors, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Joan Mitchell Award in 1997. Von Rydingsvard also taught at institutions such as Yale University, the School of Visual Arts, Fordham University, and the Pratt Institute.
Von Rydingsvard’s large-scale public sculptures are featured in prominent collections, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Storm King Art Center. Her 2013 work “Ona,” a 19-foot sculpture installed in front of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, exemplified her desire to create accessible art that invites public interaction.
She is survived by siblings Christine Brooks and Stash Karoliszyn, three grandchildren, and three step-grandchildren. Von Rydingsvard’s husband, Nobel laureate Paul Greengard, died in 2019, and her daughter, Ursula Anne von Rydingsvard, passed away in 2022. Throughout her life, she remained dedicated to pushing the boundaries of her art, describing her later years as a time for greater courage and self-trust.