LAYERS OF RETROSPECTION—the act or process of surveying the past—are implicit in Robert Wilson’s sculptures, which allude both to world history and to the histories of furniture and architecture. Furthermore, Wilson’s objects sometimes have their own histories as props designed for stage projects. They have become independent works through subsequent refinements of ideas, forms, and details, and through a higher level of craftsmanship. Despite their transformation to this new reality, however, there has been an unwillingness to view them as art objects in their own right.

The figures named in