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Wilson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Robert, 1941–, dramatist, director, and designer, b. Waco, Tex. He began his arts career as a painter. A leading figure in postmodern theater since 1963, when he arrived in New York City, he...

Walker, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Robert, d. 1658?, English painter, a follower of Van Dyck and favorite portraitist of Oliver Cromwell. His portraits of Cromwell and his family and followers are convincing studies of Puritan ...

Southey, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Southey, Robert souˈᵺē, sŭᵺˈē [key], 1774–1843, English author. Primarily a poet, he was numbered among the so-called Lake poets. While at Oxford he formed (1794) a friendship with Coleridg...

Southwell, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Southwell, Robert, 1561?–1595, English Jesuit poet, venerated by Roman Catholics as a martyr, b. Norfolk. He was brought up a Catholic and educated abroad, mainly at Douai. In 1580 he made his simpl...

Treat, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Treat, Robert, 1622?–1710, American colonial governor of Connecticut, b. England. He was taken to America when a child; his father was an early settler of Wethersfield, Conn., and a patentee of the ...

Smith, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Robert, 1757–1842, U.S. government official, b. Lancaster, Pa. Admitted to the bar in 1786, he practiced law in Baltimore before serving in the Maryland state senate (1793–95) and in the Ba...

Smithson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smithson, Robert, 1938–73, American sculptor, b. Passaic, N.J. After first making modular, serial sculpture, Smithson began to design large-scale earthworks (see land art) in the 1960s. Smithson res...

Smythson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smythson, Robert, 1536?–1614, English architect of the Elizabethan era. From 1568, Smythson was freemason to John Thynne in finishing (1567–75) the country house Longleat, Wiltshire. Striking in i...

Toombs, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Toombs, Robert, 1810–85, American statesman, Confederate leader, b. Wilkes co., Ga. A successful lawyer in Georgia, he entered politics as a Whig, serving in the state legislature and in Congress (1...

Blair, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Robert, 1699–1746, English poet and clergyman. His literary reputation rests solely on his didactic, blank-verse poem on death, The Grave (1743). ...