PRESS KIT
The materials below are for marketing and promotional purposes only. Redistribution without prior written consent of Robert Wilson and/or RW Work, Ltd. is forbidden. Please send a copy of any publication to RW Work, Ltd. Thank You.
PORTRAITS OF ROBERT WILSON
The portrait shots below may be used in publications about the works of Robert Wilson. They must not be altered, sold, redistributed or used to create derivative works and may not be archived in any digital asset management system or database without the prior approval of RW Work, Ltd. The photos, whether used in print, electronic or online format, must be captioned and credited as follows: "Robert Wilson / Photograph © [name of photographer]." Click on the photos to see captions and credits. Please ask us for the high-resolution file, explaining the intended use, via our contact form.
BIOGRAPHIES
AWARDS
2024
Received honorary doctorate from Accademia di Belle Arti in Brera [awarded February 1, 2024, Milan, Italy]
2023
34th Praemium Imperiale, awarded by the Japan Art Association in honor of Prince Takamatsu [awarded October 18, 2023, Tokyo, Japan]
2014
Officer of the Legion of Honor, awarded by the President of the French Republic
Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit, awarded by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany
Goethe Medal: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Goethe-Institut [awarded August 28, 2014, Weimar, Germany]
Manchester Theatre Award: Set Design for The Old Woman
Artis Bohemiae Amicis Award for the promotion of Czech culture
2013
Received honorary doctorate from La Sorbonne [awarded November 19, 2013, Paris, France]
Paez Medal of Art, awarded by the Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts
Olivier Award: Best New Opera for Einstein on the Beach
Received honorary doctorate from The City University of New York [awarded May 23, 2013, New York, New York]
2012
International Design and Communication Award
2010
Der Steiger Award [awarded March 13, 2010, Bochum, Germany]
Received honorary doctorate from the American University of Paris
2009
Hein Heckroth Prize – Lifetime Achievement for Scenic Design [awarded April 19, 2009, Giessen, Germany]
Honoree at the Orange County Museum of Art's Art of Dining 2009 Ultramodern [June 5, 2009, Newport Beach, CA]
Culture e Fede [ceremony to honor artists, including Robert Wilson, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, November 21, 2009]
Honoree at Alliance Française with Pierre Bergé [New York]
Richard B. Fisher Award for Quartett [Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY]
Jerome Robbins Award [New York]
2008
Received honorary doctorate from University of Bucharest, Romania
Best Theater Production in Czech Republic for The Threepenny Opera
2007
Rosa d'Oro [awarded by David Hockney on October 27, 2007, Palermo, Italy]
2006
Drama Desk Award Nominee for Outstanding Director of a Play for Peer Gynt; Best Costume Design for Jacques Reynaud; Best “Theatrical Experience” [May 21, 2006, New York City]
2005
Louise T. Blouin Foundation Award [awarded May 2, 2005, New York City]
Pratt Legends Honoree, Pratt Institute [awarded April 19, 2005, Brooklyn, New York]
American Innovator Award, The Japan Society [awarded April 6, 2005, New York City]
Texas Medal of Arts, Texas Cultural Trust Council [awarded April 5, 2005, Austin, Texas]
Received honorary doctorate from University of Toronto
2003
Commander of the Order of Arts and Letter, awarded by the President of the French Republic [awarded December 9, 2003, France]
Backstage West Garland Award: Best Lighting Design for Woyzeck [awarded February 10, 2003, Los Angeles, California]
2002
Thomas Jefferson Award, American Institute of Architects, Houston, Texas [awarded April 20, 2002]
"Politika" Grand Prix Award Belgrade International Theater Festival (BITEF) for Woyzeck [awarded October 17, 2002, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro]
2001
National Design Award, Smithsonian Institution, National Design Museum [awarded November 14, 2001]
Houston Opera Gala [honored March 31, 2001]
Reumert Award for Best Set Design for Woyzeck
2000
Grand Prix de la Critique 1999-2000: Meilleur Spectacle Étranger [Best Foreign Production] for Dream Play, Syndicat de la Critique Dramatique et Musicale [awarded June 26, 2000, Paris, France]
Honored at the Mary Buckley Endowed Scholarship Dinner, Pratt Institute [February 29, 2000, New York, New York]
American Academy of Arts and Letters [elected American Honorary Member, inducted May 17, 2000]
1999
Wilhelm Hansen Honorable Prize, Copenhagen [awarded October 25, 1999]
Médaille d’Argent de la Foundation de l’Académie d’Architecture, Paris [awarded June 15, 1999]
Honorary Award, 11th International Istanbul Theatre Festival
Pushkin Prize, Moscow, Taganka Theater [awarded April 23, 1999]
1998
Harvard Excellence in Design Award [awarded October 8, 1998, Cambridge, Massachusetts]
1997
Tadeusz Kantor Prize [awarded December 7, 1997 Crakow, Poland]
April 18th is Robert Wilson Day by the Texas State Legislature
B.Z. Arts Award "Berliner Bär", Berlin
1996
Premio Europa per il Teatro [awarded January 6, 1997 Taormina, Italy]
Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize [New York]
1995
Best Director, International Widescreen Festival for The Death of Molière
Premio Abbiati, Italian Theater Critics Award for Hanjo/Hagoromo
Texas Artist of the Year, Art League of Houston
Guest of Honor, American Friends of the Paris Opera and Ballet, Gala Dinner
1994
Premio Ubu, Best Foreign Performance for Alice
Received honorary doctorate from California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California
1993
Golden Lion (First Prize in Sculpture), 45th Venice Biennale for Memory/Loss installation
1992
Premio Ubu, Best Foreign Performance for Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights
1991
Received honorary doctorate from the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
Jack I. and Lillian Poses Creative Arts Award at Brandeis University, for Alternative and Multidiscipline Creative Art Forms [awarded April 25, 1991, Waltham, Massachusetts]
Theatertreffen, Festspiele Berlin for The Black Rider
1990
German Theater Critics Award, Best Production of the Year for The Black Rider
Special Mention by the Jury, "Festival du Film d'Art" for La Femme à la Cafetière video
1989
Grand Prize, Barcelona Biennale Festival of Cinema Art for La Femme à la Cafetière video
Premio Abbiati, Best Production of the Year, Italian Theater Critics Award for Dr. Faustus
Grand Prize for Best Event, Biennial of São Paulo for Parzival and Hamletmachine furniture and drawings
New York Public Library Lion of the Performing Arts
1988
Institute Honor, The American Institute of Architects
Premio Mondello, Award for Theater
1987
American Theatre Wing Design Award, Noteworthy Unusual Effects for the CIVIL warS–Rome Section
Bessie Award for the CIVIL warS–Knee Plays
Le Sydicat de la Critique Musicale Award for Best Foreign Play for Alcestis
Theatertreffen, Berliner Festspiele for Hamletmachine
Skowhegan Medal for Drawing, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
1986
Sole nominee, Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the CIVIL warS (no prize awarded that year)
Picasso Award, Malaga Theater Festival for Overture to the Fourth Act of Deafman Glance
Obie Award for Direction for Hamletmachine
1985
Franklin Furnace Award for Einstein on the Beach
1984
Theatertreffen, Berliner Festspiele for the CIVIL warS–Cologne Section
First Prize, San Sebastian Film and Video Festival for Stations
1982
Der Rosenstrauß for The Golden Windows
Harvard University Citation for The Golden Windows
1979
Best Production of the Year, German Critics Award for Death Destruction & Detroit
First Prize, German Press Award for Death Destruction & Detroit
1977
Le Sydicat de la Critique Musicale Award for Best Musical Theater for Einstein on the Beach
Grand Prize, BITEF (Belgrade) for Einstein on the Beach
Lumen Award for Design for Einstein on the Beach
1975
Maharam Award for Best Set Design for a Broadway Show for A Letter for Queen Victoria
TONY Nomination for Best Score and Lyrics for A Letter for Queen Victoria
1974
OBIE Special Award Citation for Direction for The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin
1971
Drama Desk Award for Direction for Deafman Glance
1970
Le Syndicat de la Critique Musicale Award for Best Foreign Play, 1970-71 for Deafman Glance
NOTABLE QUOTES
“An artist recreates history, not like a historian, but as a poet. The artist takes the communal ideas and associations that surround the various gods of his or her time and plays with them, inventing another story for these mythic characters.”
“…Light is not an afterthought. It’s something that’s architectural, it’s structure, it’s thought about from the beginning, it’s part of the book, it’s like an actor. So it’s not a decoration.”
“[I appreciate]…Hollywood portraits of the early 30s and those from Germany in the 20s where light performed as an actor, where every movement, every second was lit and sculptured, allowing us to hear and see more readily and intensely...Light in my work functions as a part of an architectural whole. It is an element that helps us hear and see, which is the primary way we communicate. Without light there is no space.”
“I have never told an actor ‘this means that.’ I create a very strict structure as far as choreography is concerned, I am strict when I give directions for movement, but not thought. The directions I give, if I give them, to the actors, are about them being more inward, faster or slower–formalistic directions. ‘Quieter,’ ‘Stronger,’ ‘Faster,’ ‘Pull that.’ I don’t discuss with the actors what they say on stage or what they think. Sometimes I tell them, ‘You believe too much in what you are saying and so you are not believable.’”