The big spark

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Penalba was born in San Pedro, Buenos Aires Province in 1913 and initially aspired to a career in drawing and painting. However, by 1950, during her time in Paris, she had fully committed herself to sculpture. Penalba specialized in vertical organic forms, finding inspiration from fellow sculptors Etienne Martin and Etienne Hajdu. Her works were an integral part of the non-figurative abstract art movement and closely tied in with the work of Martin, Hajdu, François Stahly, Karl-Jean Longuet, Simone Boisecq and Marta Colvin who led a renewal of sculptural form from 1950 onward. By the 1960s, her artwork shifted slightly toward sculptures of a more horizontal orientation. Throughout her career, she created numerous sculptures in various shapes and sizes, but is most renowned for her monumental pieces found worldwide. One of her notable statues, The Great Double (Le Grand Double; 1962-1964), can be seen in the sculpture garden of the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, while a different version from 1972 stands outside the MGIC building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US. Penalba passed away in Paris in 1982.