[Glass, Philip. (b. 1937)] Wilson, Robert. (b. 1941). The CIVIL warS, Act V, Scene C - ORIGINAL DRAWING. Signed and dated "Robert W... '82" in pencil l.r., identified on a label from Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, affixed to the backing. Graphite on paper, sight size 7 1/4 x 21 1/2 in. (18.4 x 54.6 cm), framed. Surface abrasions to the paper in the margins, otherwise in fine condition. Provenance: Sotheby's New York, Arcade, Modern and Contemporary Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, June 7, 1996, Sale 1545, Lot 343.


"the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down" is an opera created in the early 1980s by director Robert Wilson to music by Philip Glass, David Byrne, Gavin Bryars and others. The vast five-act work has never been performed whole. Originally, The Civil WarS was conceived as a single daylong piece of music theatre to accompany the 1984 Summer Olympics. Six different composers from six different countries were to compose sections of Wilson's text inspired by the American Civil War. After initial premieres in their countries of origin, the six parts were to be fused in one epic performance in Los Angeles during the games, a parallel to the internationalist ideals of the Olympic movement.