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 April 24, 1974) is a British artist. He is known for his amazing ability to draw detailed city landscapes from memory. He only needs to see a place once, often from a quick helicopter ride, to draw it perfectly. This special skill is part of what makes him an autistic savant.
In 2006, Stephen Wiltshire was given an award called the MBE for his contributions to art. In the same year, he opened his own art gallery in London.
Contents
Early life
Stephen Wiltshire was born in London in 1974. His parents were from the Caribbean. When he was young, he did not speak. At age three, he was diagnosed with autism. Sadly, his father passed away in a motorbike accident that same year.
At five years old, Stephen went to Queensmill School in London. There, he showed a strong interest in drawing. His first drawings were of animals and cars. He still loves American cars and knows a lot about them! Around age seven, he started drawing famous London buildings. After seeing pictures of cities damaged by earthquakes, he began drawing his own detailed imaginary cities.
In 2015, the BBC reported that people outside his school noticed Stephen's talent. When he was eight, he got his first job: drawing Salisbury Cathedral for former Prime Minister Edward Heath. At age ten, Stephen drew a series of London landmarks. He called it the "London Alphabet," with one drawing for each letter.
In 1987, Stephen was featured on a BBC show called The Foolish Wise Ones. A book of his drawings, simply titled Drawings, was also published that year.
From 1995 to 1998, Stephen studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School.
Career
Stephen Wiltshire can look at a place just once and then draw it with amazing accuracy and detail. He often draws entire cities from memory. He usually takes a single, short helicopter ride over the city first. For example, he drew four square miles of London after a helicopter trip. His drawing of 305 square miles of New York City is nineteen feet long! He created it after a twenty-minute helicopter ride. He also draws imaginary scenes, like St. Paul's Cathedral surrounded by flames.
Stephen's early books include Drawings (1987), Cities (1989), Floating Cities (1991), and Stephen Wiltshire's American Dream (1993). His book Floating Cities was a best-seller.
In 2003, an exhibition of his work was held in London. It was called "Not a Camera: the Unique Vision of Stephen Wiltshire."
In May 2005, Stephen created his longest panoramic memory drawing ever. It was of Tokyo, on a 32.8-foot-long (10.0 m) canvas. He finished it in seven days after a helicopter ride over the city. Since then, he has drawn other major cities like Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem, and London on huge canvases. When he drew Rome, he even drew the exact number of columns on the Pantheon!
In October 2009, Stephen finished his last panoramic drawing in the series. It was 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 sketched the view of Manhattan, the Hudson shoreline, the Financial District, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn. He worked on it for five days at the Pratt Institute in New York City. This artwork is now at the Empire State Building, on the 86th floor observation deck.
In 2010, he drew a panorama of Sydney to help raise money and awareness for Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect). He also visited the Bermuda National Gallery. There, his donated drawing of Hamilton sold for over $22,000. In June 2010, his oil painting Times Square at Night was sold at Christie's auction house.
Stephen began a tour of China in September 2010, starting with a project in Shanghai.
In 2011, Stephen created a panoramic memory drawing of New York City. This drawing is now on a 250-foot (76 m) long billboard at John F. Kennedy International Airport. It is part of an advertisement for a Swiss bank called UBS. That same year, he appeared on the TV show Top Gear.
In July 2014, Stephen drew an aerial panorama of the Singapore skyline from memory. He did this after a short helicopter ride and took five days to complete the 1 x 4 meter artwork. This artwork was given to President Tony Tan as a gift for Singapore's 50th birthday in 2015. It is now displayed at the Singapore City Gallery.
A full-length documentary about Stephen Wiltshire, called Billions of Windows, was shown for the first time in London on November 13, 2019.
Recognition
Stephen Wiltshire's work has been featured in many TV documentaries. The famous brain doctor Oliver Sacks wrote about him in his book An Anthropologist on Mars.
In 1989, Stephen appeared on the cover of You magazine with actor Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman played an autistic savant named Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 movie Rain Man. Stephen says Rain Man is one of his favorite movies.
In 2006, Stephen Wiltshire was honored with the title MBE for his contributions to art. In September 2006, he opened his own permanent art gallery in London.
On February 15, 2008, ABC News named him their Person of the Week.
In July 2009, he served as an ambassador for Children's Art Day in the United Kingdom.
In 2011, Stephen became an honorary Fellow of the Society of Architectural Illustrators (SAI). In January 2015, he also became an honorary Fellow of The Scottish Society of Architect Artists.
See also
In Spanish: Stephen Wiltshire para niños
