Stephen Wiltshire ‘Fragments of Genius’
S
tephen Wiltshire was born in London on the 24th April 1974 to West Indian parents. He
appeared to be mute and had major difficulties relating to his fellow human beings. Not surprisingly, he was diagnosed at three years of age as autistic. He had no language and created his own world to live in. Some of us today might be happy to be in that ‘own world’ lifestyle.
At five years of age he was enrolled at Queensmill School on the borders of Hammersmith and Fulham, where it was soon discovered that he was interested in drawing. These drawings showed amazing skills for someone so young, and an inbred talent that needed to be encouraged. His works were his sole form of communication. This incredible journey started out with drawings of animals, followed by the world- famous London buses, and later expanded to buildings. This talent, so unexpected and incredible, was the ultimate tool that carries Stephen to this day through life and around the world, sharing his gift with others.
When he was eight years old, he was shown some pictures of earthquakes
in a book at school, and he produced some stunning works showing London as he saw it if indeed it had been the victim of an earthquake. These imaginary works were shockingly brilliant in their realism, as were the pictures of classic American cars (his knowledge of them would do any American car buff proud) and London’s landmarks. They were all so stunningly accurate and beautiful in their own right.
At the same time his teachers tried to see if he could learn to speak by taking away his art supplies so that he would be forced to ask for them. His first word was “paper;” within a year he had the full range of any nine-year olds language skills.
In 1987, when he was thirteen, he was described as “The best child artist in Britain” by none other than Sir Hugh Casson (Past President of the Royal Academy), since then, he has been featured in tv programs, books, tours, and exhibitions. He has produced three books, the last being ‘Floating Cities’ in 1991, which made it to number one in the Sunday Times Bestseller list.
The most remarkable thing about Stephen is his ability to look at a cityscape in full and hours later reproduce the scene in minute detail. The BBC documentary ‘Fragments of Genius’ (2001) showed him flying over London in a helicopter and then producing a detailed, perfectly scaled aerial illustration of a four-square- mile area three hours later. In 2005 he did the same thing over Tokyo on a ten-metre long canvas. He has also drawn Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem and London, all from memory. Only a couple weeks ago he reproduced the Sydney harbour and buildings after viewing at the scenery from a tower overlooking the city.
He has a spiritual partnership with New York and he produced a similar masterpiece at the Pratt Institute NY in October 2009. Stephen’s remarkable story goes on, and hopefully we will watch as he continues to amaze us with his artistic achievements. It’s no surprise that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth named him a recipient of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 for services to the Arts world.
www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/originals.aspx ADistinctive style mAGAzine ADistinctive style mAgAzine 49 9
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