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Stephen Wiltshire is one of Britain’s leading artists, recognised as an “autistic savant” and renowned memory artist. Born in London to West Indian parents, as a child he was mute and did not relate to other human beings. He was diagnosed as autistic: he had no language, uncontrolled tantrums and lived entirely in his own world. He was sent to London’s Queensmill School for children with special needs, where it was noticed that the only pastime he enjoyed was drawing. It soon became apparent he communicated with the world through the language of drawing; first animals, then London buses, and finally buildings. These drawings show a masterful perspective, a whimsical line and reveal a natural innate artistry.
Stephen soon moved on to cityscapes and has drawn most of the major London landmarks, and he also became obsessed with cars and illustrations of cars (his knowledge of them is encyclopaedic). In 1987, the BBC made a QED programme entitled The Foolish Wise Ones, featuring Stephen’s astounding talent. The programme was devoted to three autistic savants: musical, mathematical and artistic. Stephen was introduced by Sir Hugh Casson (past president of the Royal Academy), who described him as “the best child artist in Britain”. That year he released his first book, Drawings (1987), and since then he has had published Cities (1989), the number one Sunday Times bestseller Floating Cities (1991), and Stephen Wiltshire's American Dream (1993). Stephen’s work has since been the subject of television programmes around the world, and the writer and psychologist Oliver Sacks devoted an essay to him in his book An Anthropologist on Mars (1995).
In 2003, thousands flocked to the Orleans House gallery in Twickenham to see the first major retrospective of Stephen's work. The exhibition covered the years from 1983 to 2003, and comprised of more than 150 examples of Stephen's drawings, paintings and prints. Stephen continues to work, and in October 2006 he opened the Stephen Wiltshire Gallery in London’s Royal Opera Arcade, which sells originals and prints of his work and includes Stephen’s studio. He was awarded an MBE for services to art in the 2006 New Year’s Honours list, and in November 2007 he was commissioned by the Daily Telegraph to make a drawing of the newly-completed St. Pancras Eurostar Terminal – it is this picture that appears on the homepage of this website.
For more on Stephen’s life and work go to www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk .
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