Stephen Wiltshire | |
|---|---|
 Wiltshire receiving an MBE for services to art | |
| Born | (1974-04-24)24 April 1974 (age 50)[1] London, England |
| Alma mater | City and Guilds of London Art School |
| Occupation | Artist |
Stephen WiltshireMBE,Hon.FSAI, Hon.FSSAA (born 24 April 1974) is a British architectural artist andautistic savant.[1] He is known for his ability todraw a landscape from memory after seeing it just once. His work has gained worldwide popularity.
In 2006, Wiltshire was made aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to art.[2] In the same year, he opened a permanent gallery on theRoyal Opera Arcade in London.[3]
Stephen Wiltshire was born in London in 1974 toCaribbean parents; his father, Colvin, was a native ofBarbados, and his mother, Geneva, is a native ofSt. Lucia.[2] He grew up inLittle Venice,Maida Vale, London.[4] Wiltshire wasnon-verbal when young. At the age of three, he was diagnosed withautism. The same year, his father died in a motorbike accident.[1][2]
At the age of five, Wiltshire was sent toQueensmill School in London where he expressed interest in drawing. His early illustrations depicted animals and cars; he is still extremely interested in American cars and is said to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of them. When he was about seven, Wiltshire became fascinated with sketching landmark London buildings. After being shown a book of photos depicting the devastation wrought by earthquakes, he began to create detailed architectural drawings of imaginary cityscapes.[1]
In June 2015, the BBC's Lucy Ash reported: "Soon people outside the school started noticing Stephen's gift and aged eight he landed his first commission—a sketch of Salisbury Cathedral for the former Prime MinisterEdward Heath".[5] When he was ten, Wiltshire drew a sequence of drawings of London landmarks, one for each letter, that he called a "London Alphabet".[3]
In 1987, Wiltshire was part of the BBC programmeThe Foolish Wise Ones.[3]Drawings, a collection of his works, was published that same year.[3]
Between 1995 and his graduation in 1998, Wiltshire attended theCity and Guilds of London Art School inKennington,Lambeth, South London.[6]
Wiltshire can look at a subject once and then draw an accurate and detailed picture of it. He frequently draws entire cities from memory, based on single, brief helicopter rides. For example, he produced a detailed drawing of four square miles of London after a helicopter ride above that city. His nineteen-foot-long drawing of 305 square miles of New York City is based on a twenty-minute helicopter ride.[7][8] He also draws fictional scenes, for example,St. Paul's Cathedral surrounded by flames.
Wiltshire's early books includeDrawings (1987),Cities (1989),Floating Cities (1991), andStephen Wiltshire's American Dream (1993).Floating Cities was number one onThe Sunday Times best-seller list.
In 2003, a retrospective of his work, "Not a Camera: the Unique Vision of Stephen Wiltshire", was held in theOrleans House gallery inTwickenham, London.[9]
In May 2005 Wiltshire produced his longest ever panoramic memory drawing of Tokyo on a 32.8-foot-long (10.0 m) canvas within seven days following a helicopter ride over the city. Since then he has drawn Rome, Hong Kong,Frankfurt, Madrid,[10]Dubai,[11][12] Jerusalem[13][14] and London[15] on giant canvasses. When Wiltshire took the helicopter ride over Rome, he drew it in such great detail that he drew the exact number of columns in thePantheon.[16]
In October 2009 Wiltshire completed the last work in the series of panoramas, an 18-foot (5.5 m) memory drawing of his "spiritual home", New York City. Following a 20-minute helicopter ride over the city he sketched the view ofManhattan, theHudson shoreline ofNew Jersey, theFinancial District,Ellis Island, theStatue of Liberty, andBrooklyn over five days at thePratt Institute, a college of art and design in New York City.[17] This piece is now located at the Empire State Building, on the 86th floor observation deck.
In 2010, he made a panorama ofSydney to raise funds for and awareness of Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect).[18][19] He visited Bermuda National Gallery where the sale of his donated drawing ofHamilton raised over $22,000.[20] In June 2010,Christie's auctioned off[21] his oil paintingTimes Square at Night.
Wiltshire started a tour of China in September 2010, with a first project taking him to Shanghai.[22]
A 2011 project in New York City involved Wiltshire's creation of a panoramic memory drawing of New York which is now displayed on a 250-foot (76 m) long giant billboard atJohn F. Kennedy International Airport. It is a part of a global advertising campaign[23] for the Swiss bankUBS that carries the theme "We will not rest",The New York Times reported.[24] Also that year, he appeared onTop Gear.[25]
In July 2014, Wiltshire drew an aerial panorama of theSingapore skyline from memory after a brief helicopter ride, taking five days to complete the 1 x 4m artwork. The artwork was presented to PresidentTony Tan as the Singapore Press Holding (SPH)'s gift to the nation in celebration of Singapore's 50th birthday in 2015, and will be displayed atSingapore City Gallery, visitor centre of the country's urban planning authority, Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Stephen Wiltshire's feature-length documentary titledBillions of Windows[26] premiered in London on the 13th of November 2019.
Wiltshire's work has been the subject of many TV documentaries.NeurologistOliver Sacks wrote about him in a chapter on prodigies in his bookAn Anthropologist on Mars.
In 1989, Wiltshire appeared on the cover ofYou magazine with actorDustin Hoffman, who had portrayed autistic savant Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 Oscar-winning film,Rain Man, which Wiltshire considers to be one of his favourite movies.[4][27][28]
In 2006, Wiltshire was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to art.[2] In September 2006 Wiltshire opened his permanent gallery in the Royal Opera Arcade,Pall Mall, London.[3]
On 15 February 2008,ABC News named himPerson of the Week.[29]
In July 2009 he acted as ambassador of the Children's Art Day in the United Kingdom.[citation needed]
In 2011, Wiltshire was made an honorary Fellow of theSociety of Architectural Illustrators (SAI).[30] In January 2015, Wiltshire was also made an honorary Fellow of The Scottish Society of Architect Artists.[31]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
