Stephen Wiltshire, was born on April 24, 1974. He is an architectural artist who has been diagnosed with autism. Wiltshire was born in London, England, to West Indian parents. He is known for being able to draw an entire landscape just by seeing it once.
Wiltshire was mute and at the age of three was diagnosed as an autistic. The same year, his father died in a motorcycle accident. At the age of five, Stephen was sent to Queensmill School in London in where he expressed interest drawing. He began to communicate through his drawings. At the age of eight, he began to draw imaginary post-earthquake cityscapes and cars.
His teachers began to encourage his drawing and, with his aid, Wiltshire slowly learned to speak at the age of nine. When he was ten, Wiltshire drew a sequence of drawings of London landmarks, one for each letter, that he called a “London Alphabet”.
In 1987, Wiltshire was part of a BBC programme The Foolish Wise Ones. A collection of his works, named Drawings, was published that year. Wiltshire can look at a target once and then draw an accurate and detailed picture of it. He once drew the whole of central London after a helicopter trip above it. He can also make imaginary scenes like St. Paul’s Cathedral surrounded by flames. In 2003, there was a major retrospective in the Orleans House gallery in Twickenham, London.
In May 2005 Stephen produced his longest ever panoramic memory drawing of Tokyo on a 10-meter long canvas within seven days following a short helicopter ride over the city. Since then he has drawn Rome, Hong Kong and Frankfurt on giant canvasses, and is in the process of drawing Madrid, after taking a 30 minute helicopter ride on Saturday February 2, 2008. When Wiltshire took the helicopter ride over Rome, he drew it in such great detail that he drew the exact number of columns in the Colosseum.
In 2006, Stephen Wiltshire was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to art. In September 2006 Stephen opened his permanent gallery in the Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, London.
Take a look at Stephen’s one of a kind talent.
11 Comments
like what u’ve said, he’s incredible and almost unbelievable. but he’s true and life!
this is good motivation story for our life. :)
This guy is, indeed, a foolish wise one. He’s amazing, at least he is able to achieve things even with his handicap.
@ Gem. Yep. Really amazing. There’s always a reason for everything.
@ denologis, thanks for dropping by. Indeed he’s an inspiration. What a talent.
Wow, this is amazing. I wish I had that kind of memory.
@ Liza, yes, indeed he is amazing. I also wished the same liz.
wow, that’s is one amazing artist. Hope that he’ll also consider Manila in his future drawings, :D
Nice post sir, I read the whole article :D Godbless~
@ CarloBlogg,
Hi there Carlo, please don’t call me sir :), it seems like I’m old.
Yeah, amazing indeed. First time i saw him, i wouldn’t believe my eyes. But that’s what he is, God gave that one of a kind talent to him. Me too, I would love to see the polution of Manila in his drawings. :)
@zplits – sorry for calling you sir, zplits, I was just used on saying “sir” when I comment, haha :D
Yeah, if ever he did draw the landscape of Manila, majority of his canvas might be full of smoke due to pollution, haha :D
Thanks for dropping by my blog too zplits. I find your blog interesting; a mix of technology and interesting topics; the exact niche that I am targeting haha :D Godbless on your blog! oh yeah, care to exchange links? I already added your site to my Blogroll :D
@ CarloBlogg,
It’s okay. Me too, I also used Sir when i comment. But not now, because it seems inappropriate. What if the webmaster isn’t a man? You get my point.
He was diagnosed as an autistic. .. but still he is talented guy.. Wow..
Hi Sir Dex, long time no hear…
Yeah! amazing guy…what a talent..unbelievable memory…It would take me hours and days just to memorize a single room, but with him, 30 minutes is all that it takes to memorize the whole panoramic view.
Do you have similar talent? hehehe