Death of Bob Wilson, major American figure of theater and opera

Visionary, sculptor of light, total artist: American director Bob Wilson, known for his original creations in both theater and opera, died on Thursday, July 31 in New York State, at the age of 83.

"We are devastated to announce the passing of Robert M. Wilson, artist, theatre and opera director, architect, set and lighting designer, visual artist (...)" , said the Robert Wilson Foundation for the Arts, adding that he had "passed away peacefully" in Water Mill, New York, following "a brief but devastating illness" .

"Although he faced his diagnosis with clarity and determination, he felt the need to continue working and creating until the end. His works for the stage, on paper, his sculptures and his video portraits, as well as the Watermill Center, will remain his artistic legacy," the foundation added.

“Peter Pan” , “Turandot” , “Einstein on the Beach” … His productions of original works as well as works from the traditional repertoire have created events wherever they have been shown, particularly in France.

"Bob Wilson was a visionary artist, a master of staging, a sculptor of light" who "deeply influenced his contemporaries, particularly in France where he created so much," commented the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati .

"The master of light has passed away (...) With him, one of the greatest inventors of the contemporary scene has passed away. I met him at the Nancy Festival, in those flamboyant years when everything seemed possible. It was an aesthetic shock, a revelation," added former Minister of Culture Jack Lang.

His love affair with France began with "Le regard du sourd" (The Look of the Deaf) , his first success, a seven-hour "silent" show presented at the Nancy Festival in 1971, then in Paris. After seeing the play, the poet Louis Aragon , overwhelmed, wrote: "I have never seen anything more beautiful in this world since I was born here."

Born on October 4, 1941 in Waco, Texas, in the southern United States, Robert Wilson, or more simply Bob Wilson, began putting on his own plays in the family garage before moving, aged around twenty, to New York where he became close to American avant-garde artists such as Andy Warhol and Philip Glass.

“Bob and I met in 1973, backstage at his exhibition “The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin” in New York City. We began working together, with Bob drawing and me composing. What began as a natural collaboration evolved into our work “Einstein On The Beach.” From that moment on, we became lifelong friends and collaborators,” Philip Glass commented on Instagram.

"Bob leaves us with his brilliant vision of everything he touched," added the American composer who wrote the music for "Einstein on the Beach" , a sort of "UFO" lasting almost five hours and edited several times since its creation.

Bob Wilson has also collaborated with choreographer Andy de Groat, Tom Waits, Isabelle Huppert, ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Lady Gaga for video portraits of her at the Louvre.

The Watermill Center he founded also organized a major exhibition in Minneapolis in tribute to George Floyd, an African-American killed five years ago in this northern US city by a white police officer, an event that gave new impetus to the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

The Robert Wilson Foundation for the Arts said Thursday that tributes to the multidisciplinary artist will be held "soon" in "places that were particularly important to him."