Our artist for the day is special and gifted in the real sense of the term.
Stephen Wiltshire, is a London-based artist who paints absolutely breath-taking detailed cityscapes.The catch with this gifted artist-cum-musician is he takes these small 20-minute helicopter rides or simply views city landscapes and architecture to reproduce it on canvass. And mind you these are not miniatures or hang-on portraits, but full fledged tapestry-sized drawing sheets.
While reviewing and reading about his works online, what baffled me the most was how people kept highlighting his autism in the course of his work. Personally, for me, Stephen's works speak so much for his talent that his
"being special" should not really matter.
The now-popular artist Stephen did not have a soppy childhood so we do not want to roll out any apathetic stories in this regard. But I'm sure that the person he is now, has emerged after braving personal struggles as any other special child does. He has a identity as an artist and we shall stick to that.
Starting out at the age of 7, Stephen was captivated by a photo book with pictures of a devastating earthquake and the landamark London buildings. He simply reproduced the detailed architecture, much to the awe of his peers and teachers. Soon enough he entered competitions at the national level. The media was captivated by his works now. To add to his illustrious pre-teen years,
Edward Heath (former PM of England), commissioned him to draw the Salisbury Cathedral. Imagine, a 8-year old boy doing this. Marvellous isn't it?
It was in 1987, that the renowned President of Royal Academy of Arts, London-
Hugh Casson who recognized Stephen's innate talent and introduced him to literary agent
Margaret Hewson. And that's where his real career as a artist began.
Not only did Hewson mentor him in his artworks, she arranged his first trip abroad as well as enrolled him for a degree at the famous City and Guilds of London Art School.
By this time, Stephen had not only recreated cityscapes of London, New York, Venice, Leningrad, Moscow and Amsterdam but also had three books to his credit; all at the age of just 16!
Additionally, Stephen is a gifted singer too. On a trip to Russia, Margaret recalls that
"When we were in Moscow we would throw our own private concerts, usually opera, in our hotel room. One evening Stephen stood on a chair and sang Carmen from memory. He had picked it up from the television and remembered it almost perfectly."
He is a archetypal example of the
savant syndrome- i.e people with neurodevelopmental disorder but displaying exceptional ability in other talents. Infact, he has been the subject of study at Goldsmith's College, London due to his dual talents. His story has been documented by BBC in a film-
Fragments of Genius,
"for which he was filmed flying over London aboard a helicopter and subsequently completing a detailed and perfectly scaled aerial illustration of a four-square-mile area within three hours; his drawing included 12 historic landmarks and 200 other structures."
On a lighter note, Stephen's likes to draw portraits of his close friends, teachers from primary school besides celebs. Taking note of his brilliant contribution to art, the Queen bestowed the prestigious Member of the Order of British Empire (MBE) on Stephen in 2006.
As of now, Stephen has his own art gallery in London's Royal Opera Arcade, one of the oldest shopping arcades in the city. He loves to travel all around the world to capture the skylines, burst into impromptu performances and even imitates singer Robbie Williams.
That's a whole lot of talent for one person. Truly an inspiration for people like us who take pride in being normal. If being 'special' amounts being like Stephen, it's absolutely a commendable state to be in.
Have a look at some of his detailed works below. You can also take a tour of his
website to buy his online prints.
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| Arc D' Triomphe |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| Chicago skyline view |
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| Hong Kong aerial view |
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| Kualalumpur |
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| Los Angeles aerial view |
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| London |
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| Manhattan |
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| Melbourne |
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| Monte Carlo |
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| New Orleans |
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| Opera House, Sydney Harbor |
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| Paris At Night |
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| Rio De Janeiro aerial view |
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| Station St. Pancras |
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| Vatican City |
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| Venice At Dawn |
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| Wailing Wall at Jerusalem |
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| The Parliament and Westminster Abbey, London |
What's your pick-of-the-cities from Stephen's works? Leave us a comment or any thoughts you have about the artist and his works.
You can check out his other works by visiting his
website.
Absolutely amazing talent. Thanx E-junkie team, I loved it totally!
Its all the more amazing that he draws the cityscapes just from memory. We are so glad that you liked the article.
Brilliantly written piece, kudos.