Robert ‘Bob’ Wilson, one of the most important innovators of the contemporary theatre scene, has died – he was 83 years old. Born in Waco, Texas, in 1941, the multidisciplinary director, author and artist revolutionised the very concept of performance, integrating theatre, music, dance, visual arts and architecture in a unique and unmistakable vision.
In memoriam Robert M. Wilson (1941—2025)
We are heartbroken to announce the passing of Robert M. Wilson, artist, theater and opera director, architect, set and lighting designer, visual artist, and founder of The Watermill Center.
Robert Wilson died peacefully today in Water Mill, New York, at the age of 83, after a brief but acute illness.
While facing his diagnosis with clear eyes and determination, he still felt compelled to keep working and creating right up until the very end. His works for the stage, on paper, sculptures and video portraits, as well as The Watermill Center, will endure as Robert Wilson’s artistic legacy.
There will be memorials for Robert Wilson held in the near future in locations that were especially meaningful to him. We will announce those in time.
Teatro La Scala, where he directed several operas, issued a statement saying, “As a director and designer of prose and opera, Wilson understood theatre as a total work of art, taking care of every detail of his productions.”
After the ballet Edison to music by Michael Riesman at Milan’s Teatro Nazionale in 1979, his first production at La Scala was Salome, a memorable 1987 production with Kent Nagano conducting, costumes by Gianni Versace, and Montserrat Caballé in the lead role. He returned two years later with Giacomo Manzoni’s Doktor Faustus, conducted by Gary Bertini and again with costumes by Versace.
Between 2011 and 2015, he directed and designed Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria, L’Orfeo and L’incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi, conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini. In April this year, for the opening of the 63rd Salone del Mobile in Milan, he created The Night Before. Objects, Chairs, Opera, with soprano Marina Rebeka and the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra conducted by Michele Spotti.
In Milan, he also collaborated with the Piccolo Teatro. His production of Samuel Beckett‘s Happy Days, created for the 52nd Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto in June 2010, was seen at the Piccolo Teatro’s Teatro Strehler with Adriana Asti as Winnie. The formidable Italian actress who worked with the greatest of the Italian directors in theatre and film – Giorgio Strehler, Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Luca Ronconi – also died today at 94.
After studying economics and architecture, Wilson became interested in theatre through an experience in workshops for disabled children, where he discovered the therapeutic power of slow-motion movement, something that characterised much of his work. He moved to New York in the early 1960s and began his artistic career with painting, sculpture and set design.
In 1968, he founded the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, a company with which he experimented with new forms of theatre and created his first visionary works such as The King of Spain and The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud. His style is easily recognisable – powerful images, slow movements, a dilated idea of space and time. One of his best-known works is the opera Einstein on the Beach (1976), created with Philip Glass, which established him internationally.
Wilson pushed the boundaries of theatre with monumental works such as The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin (12 hours) or KA MOUNTain and GUARDenia Terrace, which lasted seven days and was staged on a mountain in Iran. He has also directed operas, ballets, performances and art exhibitions, always with an interdisciplinary approach.
He collaborated with artists such as Tom Waits, David Byrne, William S. Burroughs, and Heiner Müller and involved well-known actors in innovative projects. His work has also touched the world of television and video with the Voom Portraits, made since 2004 and interpreted by celebrities of all kinds, from Brad Pitt to Lady Gaga, but also by the homeless.
Wilson has received numerous international awards, including the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale in 1993 and the Europe Theatre Prize in 1997. The latter recognises his ability to reinvent theatre as a global art, capable of transcending the boundaries of language, gender and culture. His shows are considered ‘total works’, where nothing is left to chance and every element, from light to music, is part of a coherent vision. In 2023, he received the prestigious Imperial Award in Japan for his global impact on the arts, confirming his position among the most influential figures in contemporary art and theatre.
In addition to an international career, he devoted much time to the Watermill Center, a foundation and artistic laboratory on Long Island, which trains young talent from around the world.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.