It has been announced that Robert M. Wilson, the American experimental theatre and opera director and visual artist has died.

According to a statement on his personal website 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.”

Known worldwide for his hypnotic productions, sculptural lighting and dreamlike pacing, Wilson leaves behind a body of work that redefined what the stage could be.

Robert M. Wilson (1941–2025). Portrait © Lucie Jansch

Born in Waco, Texas in 1941, Wilson came to prominence in the experimental theatre scene of 1970s New York, but his work quickly gained international attention for its singular fusion of movement, image, sound and space. His early productions, such as the “silent opera” Deafman Glance (1970), the epic 12-hour The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin (1973), and A Letter for...