The Robert Wilson Archive
Important note: the Robert Wilson Archive is in the process of relocating to a new facility in Brooklyn. As such, the Archive is not able to fulfill any research requests until March 2008. Thank you for your patience.
Overview
The nucleus of the Archive is currently housed at the Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation's Wooster Street office. With the dedication of the Watermill Center's main building in the summer of 2006, the Foundation and Robert Wilson plan to establish there a permanent archive, library, and study center.
The Robert Wilson Archive comprises:
- Over 30,000 photographs and slides from productions
- A humanties library housing around 9,000 bound volumes on subjects ranging from contemporary and tribal art, furniture design, and literature
- Four hundred linear feet of printed materials, program books, and ephemera directly related to Wilson's productions
- Wilson's production files, rehearsal notes, and sketches
Using this website
This website currently contains a modest sampling of around 700 photographs from Wilson's productions. Access is obtained by registering with this site. All information you provide at the time of registration is kept strictly confidential. Please view our privacy policy for further information on how your information is handled.
As funding permits, the following materials will be added to the website:
- Additional photographs and materials
- A detailed chronological list of Robert Wilson's productions, exhibitions, and publications
- A comprehensive list of video titles available for rental from the Archive
Upon registering with this site, you may choose to be kept notified of updates to the site.
Rights and permissions
The Archive does not lend photographs or administer reproduction rights for photographs. With few exceptions, all materials in the Archive are for research purposes only and rights for printing or reproduction reside with their respective photographers.
The Archive staff can assist researchers and press representatives obtain these rights by providing names and contact information for photographers.
Public access to the Robert Wilson Archive
The Archive is currently administered by a professional staff and is open to qualified researchers on a rolling basis. Appointments can be made by contacing the Archive directly by any of the means below or by filling out the form on this website's Contact page.
Generally, appointments must be made at least two weeks in advance. A $40 donation per research day to the Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation is suggested.
When contacting the Archive staff to make an appointment, please provide as much information regarding the nature of your research as possible, including your professional affiliation and/or academic post and a list of specific productions or areas of interest.
The Robert Wilson Archive
55 Washington Street, Suite 216
Brooklyn, New York 11201
+1 (212) 253-7484 ext. 14
Other collections
The Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation has donated a substantial collection of records to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University. These Columbia materials now form the Robert Wilson Papers and document much of Wilson's work from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s.
The Robert Wilson Papers
Rare Book and Manuscripts Library
Butler Library
Columbia University
New York, New York 10027
+1 (212) 854-8480
The collection is open to the public.
In 2004, the Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation made a gift of several hundred videotapes, filmstrips, and audio recordings to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. This collection contains some of finest examples of Wilson's rehearsal process and staging workshops conducted at the Watermill Center as well as complete recordings of both legendary and little known productions. The collection spans from 1970 to the present and includes such works as Deafman Glance, The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin, The CIVIL warS, A Letter for Queen Victoria, Einstein on the Beach, The Magic Flute, Madame Butterfly, Parsifal, and Salome, among others.
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Billy Rose Theater on Film and Tape Archive &
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, New York 10023
+1 (212) 870-1630
This collection is open to qualified researchers only.
