Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson | Animals
July 24th - September 13th, 2025
Winston Wächter Fine Art, New York is pleased to present Robert Wilson | Animals, an exhibition of video portraits by renowned theater director and visual artist Robert Wilson. This solo exhibition presents Wilson’s captivating series of animal portraits—featuring snow owls, a black panther, skunk, an elk, and more. These portraits showcase Wilson’s acclaimed mastery of light and color and reflect his fascination with animals, which he describes as having “a way of listening interiorly.”
Wilson first debuted his video portraiture at Paula Cooper Gallery in his 2007 exhibition, where he staged a series of high-definition video portraits featuring artists, musicians, actors, animals, and other notable figures. Animals is the first exhibition devoted exclusively to his animal portraits, created over the years since that initial presentation, including video works from his 2016 collaboration with Hermès.
The Hermès installation at Cedar Lake in New York City, titled Here Elsewhere, brought together Robert Wilson’s avant-garde vision with Hermès’ renowned commitment to craftsmanship and material excellence. Animal portraits were interwoven with pieces from the Hermès collection, alongside sound and performance, to create a fully immersive, 360-degree environment. Works such as Quincy (Red fox) from the series Hermès by Nature demonstrate how Wilson’s scenographic sensibility amplified the narrative power of both the portraits and the surrounding elements.
Within these portraits, Robert Wilson explores numerous references to mythology, art history, and popular culture. His Snowy Owls references the owl in Greek mythology which was often associated with Athena, goddess of wisdom, arts, and skill. Similarly, in his portrait of an Elk, the animal stands almost motionless within a stark setting as subtle movements such as the flick of an ear or the rise and fall of the elk’s breath, slowly reveal themselves. In Wilson’s Panther piece, the artist’s signature use of theatrical lighting enhances the sense of quiet drama. The backdrop is spare, recalling the atmosphere of a stage set or a dream.
By incorporating a multitude of creative elements; lighting, gesture, text, voice, set design, and narrative – the video portraits act as a synthesis of all the media in the realm of Wilson’s art making. The medium is video but the form blurs time-based cinematography with the frozen moment of still photography. The final result on the screen resembles a photograph, but on closer inspection reveals Wilson’s highly developed theatrical language in a striking visual experience that is both meditative and deeply expressive.
Robert Wilson was born in Waco, Texas and is among the world’s foremost theater and visual artists. His works for the stage unconventionally integrate a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music and text. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York-based performance collective “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds” in the mid-1960s, and developed his first signature works. With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed, Jessye Norman and Anna Calvi. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Verdi’s La Traviata and several of Shakespeare’s works. Wilson’s drawings, paintings and sculptures have been presented around the world in hundreds of solo and group showings, and his works are held in private collections and museums throughout the world. Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, and an Olivier Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the German Academy of the Arts, and holds 8 Honorary Doctorate degrees. He is a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters and Officer of the Legion of Honor in France, bearer of the German Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit, and laureate of the 2023 Praemium Imperiale. Wilson is the founder and Artistic Director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for the Arts in Water Mill, New York.
Robert Wilson / Photograph © Lucie Jansch
Robert Wilson
Rocky Mountain Elk, 2017
Score by Robert Wilson and Bear Kirkpatrick
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
Edition of 2, 2APS
65” plasma screen
Ivory (Black Panther), 2006
Music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Text by Heiner Mueller. Voice by Robert Wilson
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
46-55” plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
60-75’’ plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
Robert Wilson
Music by Carl Maria von Weber, arranged by Peter
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
Edition of 2, 2APS
43” plasma screen
Robert Wilson
Snowy Owl (Magenta Pantone Owl), 2006
Cerone
Snowy Owl (Orange Pantone Owl), 2006
Music by Carl Maria von Weber, arranged by Peter Cerone
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
Edition of 2, 2APS
43” plasma screen
Robert Wilson
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
Edition of 2, 2APS
43” plasma screen
Robert Wilson
Snowy Owl (Light Blue Pantone Owl), 2006
Music by Carl Maria von Weber, arranged by Peter Cerone
Quincy (Red Fox) from the series Hermès by Nature, 2016
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
46-55” plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
60-75’’ plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson
Roxy (Arctic Fox) from the series Hermès by Nature, 2016
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
46-55” plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
60-75’’ plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
Guinevere (Peregrine Falcon) from the series Hermès by Nature, 2016
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
46-55” plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
60-75’’ plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson
Wouter (Cordon Bleu Finch), from the series Hermès by Nature, 2016
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
46-55” plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
60-75’’ plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
Music by Richard Wagner
Seamlessly looped UHD Video & Audio
46-55” plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
60-75’’ plasma screen, Edition of 2, 2APS
Robert Wilson
Sampson, 2008
Tree of Life Video Portraits, Tales Exhibition Villa Panza, Varese, Italy
ROBERT
WILSON SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
1941 Born in Waco, Texas
EDUCATION
1959 - 1962
University of Texas, Austin
1962
Studied Painting with George McNeil, Paris
1965
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, B.F.A.
1966
Apprentice to Paolo Soleri, Arcosanti Community, Arizona
AWARDS AND HONORS
2014
Goethe Medal: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Goethe Institut, Weimar, Germany
Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit, awarded by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany
2013
Honorary Doctorate, La Sorbonne, Paris, France
Olivier Award: Best New Opera, London
2010
Der Steiger Award, Bochum, Germany
2009
Hein Heckroth Prize: Lifetime Achievement for Scenic Design, Giessen, Germany
Trophée des Arts Gala
2009
French Institute Alliance Française, New York
2007
Rosa d’Oro (presented by David Hockney), Palermo, Italy
2005
Louise T. Blouin Foundation Award, New York
Pratt Legends Honoree, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
IMAJINE: American Innovator Award, The Japan Society, New York
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
Robert Wilson - The Hat Makes The Man, curated by Robert Wilson, Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, Germany
Robert Wilson. Balthus Unfinished, curated by Robert Wilson, Plateforme 10 (mcba), Lausanne, Switzerland
2017
Robert Wilson Black and White, Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo, Brazil
2015
Einstein on the Beach, Backlit Gallery, Nottingham, UK
2014
Lady Gaga Video Portraits, The Watermill Center, Water Mill, NY
2013
Le Louvre invite Robert Wilson, Louvre Museum, Paris, France
2012
Einstein on the Beach, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
2011
Robert Wilson: 147 Spring Street Byrd Loft, New York
2010
Robert Wilson: Video Portraits, Jiri Svestka Gallery, Prague
Deafman Glance: A Video Installation, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
2009
Voom Portraits: Robert Wilson, Phoenix Hallen & Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
Hydra School Project,Hydra, Greece
Palazzo Reale, Milan
San Benito, Valladolid, Spain
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami
The Fabric Museum and Workshop, Philadelphia
2008
VOOM Portraits: Robert Wilson, National Museum of Singapore,Singapore
SESC Pinheiro, São Paulo
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
2007
Robert Wilson – VOOM Portraits, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Phillips de Pury & Company, New York
2006
Peer Gynt, Bam Howard Gilman Opera House, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
Le Violon d’Ingres, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy
2016
Musicircus. Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou Collection, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Paris, France
2012
Einstein on the Beach: Robert Wilson, Philip Glass, Lucinda Childs, Christopher Knowles, Andrew de Groat, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Robert Wilson/Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Elemental, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
2010
Josef Svoboda- Robert Wilson, Museum Kampa, Prague Scene - Quadro. Caporossi, Kantor, Santasangre, Wilson, La Nuova Pesa Centre for Contemporary Art, Rome
2009
The Third Mind; American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989, Guggenheim Museum of Art, New York
2008
Multi-Part Art: Contemporary Works from the Collection, Museum of Art Rhode Island, Providence, RI
Robert Wilson | Animals
July 24th - September 13th, 2025
Winston Wächter Fine Art
530 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 255-2718
nygallery@winstonwachter.com
Publication © 2025 Winston Wächter Fine Art
All rights reserved
Catalog Design by Nóra Reynolds
Cover: Wouter (Cordon Bleu Finch), from the series Hermès by Nature, 2016
