Stephen Wiltshire facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Stephen Wiltshire
|
|
|---|---|
Wiltshire receiving an MBE for services to art
|
|
| Born | 24 April 1974 London, England
|
| Alma mater | City and Guilds of London Art School |
| Occupation | Artist |
Stephen Wiltshire, born on April 24, 1974, is a British artist. He is famous for his incredible ability to draw detailed cityscapes. What makes him special is that he can draw these complex scenes from memory. He only needs to see them once, often after a short helicopter ride! Stephen has autism and is known as a "savant," meaning he has extraordinary skills in a specific area. His amazing artwork is known all over the world.
In 2006, Stephen received a special award called the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). This award recognized his important contributions to art. That same year, he opened his own art gallery in London, where his work is always on display.
Contents
Stephen's Early Life and Discovering Art
Stephen Wiltshire was born in London in 1974. His parents came from the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Saint Lucia. He grew up in a part of London called Little Venice. When he was very young, Stephen didn't speak much. At age three, doctors found out he had autism. Sadly, his father passed away that same year.
When Stephen was five, he started attending Queensmill School in London. There, he showed a strong interest in drawing. At first, he drew animals and cars. He still loves American cars and knows a huge amount about them! Around age seven, he became fascinated with drawing famous buildings in London. After seeing pictures of cities damaged by earthquakes, he started drawing his own detailed imaginary cities.
His talent was soon noticed. In June 2015, a BBC report shared that when Stephen was eight, he got his first art job. He drew a sketch of Salisbury Cathedral for Edward Heath, who used to be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. When he was ten, Stephen created a series of drawings called the "London Alphabet." Each drawing showed a famous London landmark for a different letter of the alphabet.
In 1987, Stephen appeared on a BBC TV show called The Foolish Wise Ones. A book of his artwork, titled Drawings, was also published that year. Later, from 1995 to 1998, Stephen studied art at the City and Guilds of London Art School.
Stephen's Amazing Art Career
Stephen Wiltshire has an incredible talent: he can look at a place just once and then draw it perfectly from memory. He often draws entire cities after only a short helicopter ride! For example, he once drew four square miles of London after flying over it. His drawing of New York City was nineteen feet long and covered 305 square miles. He created it after a twenty-minute helicopter trip. He also draws imaginary scenes, like St. Paul's Cathedral surrounded by flames.
Stephen has published several books of his artwork. These include Drawings (1987), Cities (1989), Floating Cities (1991), and Stephen Wiltshire's American Dream (1993). His book Floating Cities even became a number one best-seller on The Sunday Times list!
In 2003, an exhibition of his work called "Not a Camera: the Unique Vision of Stephen Wiltshire" was held in London.
In May 2005, Stephen created his longest memory drawing ever. It was a panorama of Tokyo on a 32.8-foot-long (10.0 m) canvas. He finished it in just seven days after a helicopter ride over the city. Since then, he has drawn many other famous cities on huge canvases. These include Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem, and London. When he drew Rome, he was so precise that he even drew the exact number of columns on the Pantheon!
In October 2009, Stephen finished a special series of panoramic drawings. This included an 18-foot (5.5 m) memory drawing of New York City, which he calls his "spiritual home." After a 20-minute helicopter ride, he spent five days sketching the view. This included Manhattan, the Hudson River shoreline, the Financial District, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn. This amazing artwork is now displayed at the Empire State Building in New York.
In 2010, Stephen drew a panorama of Sydney, Australia. This was to help raise money and awareness for Autism Spectrum Australia. He also visited Bermuda, where a drawing he donated of Hamilton sold for over $22,000. In June 2010, his oil painting of Times Square at Night was sold at a famous auction house called Christie's.
Stephen began a tour of China in September 2010, starting with a project in Shanghai.
In 2011, Stephen created another panoramic memory drawing of New York City. This artwork is now shown on a giant 250-foot (76 m) long billboard at John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was part of a worldwide advertising campaign for a bank. That same year, he also appeared on the popular TV show Top Gear.
In July 2014, Stephen drew an aerial panorama of the Singapore skyline. He did this from memory after a short helicopter ride. It took him five days to complete the 1-meter by 4-meter artwork. This drawing was given to President Tony Tan as a gift for Singapore's 50th birthday in 2015. You can now see it at the Singapore City Gallery.
A full-length documentary about Stephen, called Billions of Windows, premiered in London on November 13, 2019.
Awards and Recognition
Stephen's amazing artwork has been featured in many TV documentaries, like one called The Human Camera. A famous brain doctor named Oliver Sacks even wrote about Stephen in his book, An Anthropologist on Mars.
In 1989, Stephen was on the cover of You magazine with actor Dustin Hoffman. Dustin Hoffman played a character with autism and special memory skills, Raymond Babbitt, in the movie Rain Man. Stephen says Rain Man is one of his favorite films.
As mentioned earlier, in 2006, Stephen received the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award for his contributions to art. In September 2006, he also opened his own permanent art gallery in London.
On February 15, 2008, ABC News in the United States called Stephen their "Person of the Week."
In July 2009, he became a special helper, or ambassador, for Children's Art Day in the United Kingdom.
Stephen has also received special honors from art groups. In 2011, he was made an honorary Fellow of the Society of Architectural Illustrators. In January 2015, he also became an honorary Fellow of The Scottish Society of Architect Artists.
See also
In Spanish: Stephen Wiltshire para niños
