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Interview


A Brush of Brilliance


Stephen Wiltshire is one of the most famous artists in the world. Selina Julien finds out what makes him tick and discusses the barriers he’s overcome to cement his place in history


S


tephen Wiltshire is not just an artist. He is a genius. The remarkable talent of the Londoner has earned him the respect of millions and


catapulted him to worldwide acclaim. Famed for drawing some of the world’s greatest skylines to scale from memory, often after just a 20-minute helicopter ride, Stephen possesses an extraordinary talent. But it hasn’t been the most conventional journey for the gifted artist. Astonishingly Stephen was mute until the age of five. As a young child growing up with autism he struggled to communicate and would often seek solace in drawing. His elder sister, Annette, who travels


the world with him and runs Stephen’s gallery with her husband, says: “When teachers discovered that he was so infatuated by his paper and pen, like we need air and oxygen to survive, they decided to take it away to see what happened. It was their biggest discovery.”


Stephen said his first word, “paper”, and the rest is history. Progressing from drawing his favourite


animal, to London buses and finally to buildings from memory, Stephen’s honed his craft at a young age and sold his first painting to the late British Prime Minister Edward Heath when he was just eight years old.


Fast forward 30 years later and sitting


in his quaint London gallery, just a stone’s throw away from bustling Trafalgar Square, a smiling Stephen stands to greet me. I ask him whether he recalls our last interview. “Yes, it was 12 years ago,” he says without a moment’s hesitation. He’s spot on and it’s this snapshot of his photographic memory that has played a pivotal role in his success. Stephen struggled with his speech during our first meeting, but today he’s a changed man and despite slight pauses in the conversation, he’s more confident and vocal. When I ask whether he was more


excited visiting his ‘spiritual home’ of New York or receiving his MBE for Services to Art in 2006, he lights up: “I love New York, it’s a beautiful city with tall buildings and sky scrapers, yellow cabs and lots of people. I like the buzz, it’s amazing.” But he still has fond memories of receiving his MBE in 2006. “I met Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace, he’s a nice man, always polite,” recalls Stephen. His gallery space is now a pilgrimage


for tourists who flock there each year to witness his work and hope to catch a glimpse of the artist himself. But now in demand around the world, Stephen is seldom there, instead clocking up air miles as he travels to all parts of the globe for TV interviews and private commissions. “I’ve been to Jerusalem, Madrid, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and I’ve been to Tokyo four times,” he says proudly. One of Stephen’s most recent works, a


4ft panoramic drawing of the skyline of New York’s East Side, was commissioned by the United Bank of Switzerland. The £100,000 masterpiece now hangs proudly at New York’s JFK airport where thousands of air travellers admire his work on a daily basis. Of course you don’t have to splash out


that sort of money for a piece of Stephen’s work. You can pick up a small print on his website for as little as £25. Stephen – who lives with his mother,


Geneva, in Maida Vale – is a frequent visitor to her native St Lucia. “I have drawn some street scenes there


Stephen drawing the Manhattan skyline 22 POWERLIST 2013 | WWW.POWERFUL-MEDIA.COM


but I don’t like that there aren’t many tall buildings and the roads are quite narrow. Every night there are mosquitoes and I don’t like them.” Such glimpses of his personality remind you that while Stephen may not be able


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