Sibylle Szaggars Redford is the late Robert Redford’s widow, a German-born multimedia environmental artist, and the founder of The Way of the Rain.
Sibylle Szaggars Redford is the German-born multimedia environmental artist who was Robert Redford’s second wife. After Redford died on September 16, 2025, at age 89, she is properly described as his widow or late wife—not his current wife.
Although her marriage to the actor and filmmaker made her widely recognizable, Szaggars Redford has a distinct career built around painting, water, performance, and environmental awareness. She is the founder, president, and artistic director of The Way of the Rain, a nonprofit arts organization that uses visual art and live performance to explore the beauty and fragility of the natural world.
Her marriage to Robert Redford
Redford and Szaggars Redford married in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2009. Contemporary reports described a small ceremony at the Louis C. Jacob Hotel attended by roughly 30 relatives and friends. A pastor from St. Catherine Church officiated; the ceremony itself was held at the hotel, not at the church.
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Some later accounts differ on the precise day. Contemporary reporting identified July 11, 2009, while a later retrospective used July 16—the date the news was being reported. The reliable, uncomplicated description is that they married in Hamburg in July 2009.
She was Redford’s second wife and his most recent wife at the time of his death. The couple kept much of their private life out of public view, so it is best not to add unsourced accounts about how they met or other personal details.
Sibylle Szaggars Redford’s work as an artist
Szaggars Redford was born and raised in Europe and moved permanently to the United States in the 1990s, later establishing her art practice in Sundance, Utah. Her work spans oil sketches, photography, canvas pieces, large-scale oil paintings, and watercolor abstractions.
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Rain is especially central to her art. Rather than treating weather as a backdrop, she has used it as an active collaborator: prepared watercolor pigment compositions are placed in monsoon rain so that the water affects the finished image. Her organization describes exhibitions of her work in Europe, Monaco, Peru, Singapore, Japan, Suriname, and the United States.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThat approach also received a public-diplomacy platform. In 2016, the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program documented her commission for the U.S. Embassy in Paramaribo, Suriname. The resulting work drew on her visit to Suriname and incorporated Surinamese rain, connecting the physical conditions of a place to the artwork made for it.
The Way of the Rain
Szaggars Redford founded The Way of the Rain, Inc. in November 2015. Its stated educational and cultural mission is to use varied staged art forms to foster awareness of the Earth’s beauty, vulnerability, and environmental threats.
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The nonprofit developed out of her rain-based visual work but is broader than an exhibition program. Her “Rainfall” series began in 2010. In 2013, she and Icelandic musician David Thor Jónsson developed a performance concept that brings together music, dance, spoken word, film, and light. The first performance was staged in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that year.
Robert Redford participated in some presentations, reflecting an overlap in the couple’s environmental interests. But the distinction matters: Szaggars Redford founded the organization and leads it as its president and artistic director. Official materials identify Redford as vice president emeritus, not as the nonprofit’s founder.
Why her work matters
For documentary-minded viewers, Szaggars Redford’s career is notable because it approaches environmental communication through atmosphere and collaboration rather than argument alone. Rain, sound, projected imagery, movement, and spoken language are used to make ecological change felt as well as explained.
Her work also resists reducing an artist to a famous spouse. The marriage is part of her public biography, but the strongest account of Sibylle Szaggars Redford begins with the work she has made: paintings shaped by water, international projects informed by place, and a continuing environmental-arts organization built around those ideas.
Sources
- Associated Press reporting on Robert Redford’s death and family status.
- Contemporary AP/AFP-derived reporting on the July 2009 Hamburg wedding.
- U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies, artist and Paramaribo commission materials.
- The Way of the Rain, official organization and artist materials.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Robert Redford marry Sibylle Szaggars?
Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars Redford married in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2009. Contemporary reports identify July 11, though later coverage has used a different reporting date.
What is The Way of the Rain?
She founded The Way of the Rain, a nonprofit that uses visual art, music, dance, film, light, and spoken word to encourage environmental awareness.
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Is Sibylle Szaggars Redford American?
No. She is German-born and later established her artistic practice in Sundance, Utah, after moving permanently to the United States in the 1990s.
The Bottom Line
Sibylle Szaggars Redford is Robert Redford’s widow and an established environmental artist in her own right, best known for rain-based visual art and for founding The Way of the Rain.
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