Robert Wilson

“An artist recreates history, not like a historian, but as a poet.”

Since the late 1960s, Robert Wilson’s productions have decisively shaped the face of theater and opera alike. With his signature use of light, his exploration of the structure of a simple movement, and the classical rigor of his scenic and furniture design, Wilson has continuously articulated the force and originality of his vision. Wilson’s close ties and collaborations with leading artists, writers, and musicians continue to fascinate audiences worldwide.

After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York‐based performance collective “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds” in the mid‐1960s, and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974‐1975). Together with Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976).

Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed and Jessye Norman. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Brecht/Weill’s Three Penny Opera, Goethe’s Faust, Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables and Homer’s Odyssey.

Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, and an Olivier Award. Wilson is the founder and Artistic Director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for the Arts in Water Mill, New York.

Photo: Lucie Jansch