For Richard Joseph Sigmund of Brooklyn and Springs, “being an artist, and his family, were the two most important things in his life,” his family wrote. “He would say that making work was therapy for him, and it only became ‘art’ when it had an effect on someone else. Richard felt that the purpose of the artist was to keep the creative process alive. Along with his children, it was his contribution to the world, and he wanted it to be healing.”
Mr. Sigmund, who had cancer for two years, died on March 16 at East End Hospice’s Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. He was 71.
He was born in Philadelphia on Jan. 21, 1951, to Robert Sigmund and the former Ellen Madden. Though he lived in Philadelphia only until he was 17, he developed a lifelong love of music and dancing there, his family said. “He and his friends would sing and dance on the street in their neighborhood and participate in dancing competitions. For the rest of his life, Richard never missed an opportunity to get up and dance. He also brought with him a lifelong love of basketball, and of course, soft pretzels.”
After leaving high school there, he served in the Marine Corps, which ultimately took him to California. In San Diego, he met his future wife, Natasha Ebeling-Koning. The two were married on Nov. 24, 1984. She was “the gold in his life,” his family wrote. They lived in Los Angeles, and in 1986 moved back to the East Coast, where they were both from, to settle in Brooklyn.
He loved to ride his bike around the city, rain or shine, “especially to go to yoga in the early mornings across the Brooklyn Bridge. Richard lit up in New York. He loved the energy of the city, the beauty he saw all around him, the different people to meet and strike up a conversation with,” his family said.
In California, Mr. Sigmund had become a fine artist, and in New York he continued to paint, draw, and sculpt, “deriving inspiration from the city streets around him. Imagery of the street fills Richard’s body of artwork. He would say that the street was his ‘teacher.’ “
He became an accomplished and highly specialized art installer and was a mentor to other artists. He did that on a freelance basis from the 1980s until last year and also worked with the Marian Goodman Gallery from 1999 to 2007 and the estate of Roy Lichtenstein from 2011 until this year.
Mr. Sigmund began to practice yoga in New York, and it and Buddhism “became central to his life,” according to his family. He practiced Ashtanga yoga for more than 35 years. The practice took him to India many times, and the country became “an extremely special place for him.” He spent time in Dharamsala there, teaching yoga to Tibetan refugees and visiting children whose education he sponsored for many years. Varanasi, also in India, was another special place. There he made gouache paintings while looking out at the Ganges.
“In his final years, Richard discovered the healing power of the trees,” his family said. He and his wife bought a cottage in Springs, “where he built an incredible sanctuary of Zen gardens, trails, and installations of his sculptures in the woods behind their home.” The garden “is a living memory of Richard’s spirit, and a place for his family and friends to visit and feel at peace with him.”
In January, Mr. Sigmund had his final gallery show, at Keyes Art in Sag Harbor, exhibiting sculptures that derived from the common sidewalk stoop in an exhibition titled “A Place to Rest.”
Described as “a true original,” he was “deeply thoughtful, curious, and philosophical,” as well as “kind, gentle, and caring. A beautiful soul,” his family wrote.
“Richard was regarded as someone who made everyone feel seen and heard, especially the underdog and the unseen. In his final weeks, he continued to have meaningful interactions and conversations about artwork and spirituality. He played music and danced as often as he was able. He watched basketball, and made his family and friends laugh with a well-timed joke.”
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Richard David Sigmund of Newark, Del., and a daughter, Citizen Sigmund Hanson of Sag Harbor, a brother, Robert Louis Sigmund of Mars, Pa., and a cousin and “honorary brother,” Dan Zibman. He was close with his daughter-in-law, Phuong-Cac Nguyen, his son-in-law, Christopher Hanson, his mother-in-law, Nada Barry, his wife’s siblings and their spouses, Gwen and Glenn Waddington and Derek and Juliann Ebeling-Koning, Trebor Barry, who is his wife’s brother, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
The family plans to hold a celebration of life for him in the near future. Memorial contributions have been suggested to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978, and the Bowery Mission, online at bowery.org.
