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STEPHEN WILTSHIRE Artist
The autistic boy genius famous for his amazing ability to draw buildings from memory
Stephen Wiltshire was born in London to a West Indian electrical engineer and a seamstress. Stephen was their second child, and showed slow development when sitting up and learning to walk. He would scream incessantly, hated to be touched and would never speak. At the age of four he was diagnosed autistic but what he lacked in social skills did not deter him from picking up a pen and start drawing.
His first subjects were cars, then around the age of seven he drew his attention to London's landmark buildings. stephen, still without the power of speech, created the most complicated drawings of difficult engineering and architectural subjects. His most famous drawings are the Post Office Tower, the Houses of Parliament and a view from the London Eye. Other pictures include New York's Times square at night and a 1995 painting called The End Of The World which almost seems to be a prediction of the destruction of the Twin Towers.
Stephen first came to public attention in a TV documentary. For the first time people saw the most intricate sketches of cityscapes which he executed in astonishing detail and perspective all from memory. Such was the curiosity about him that a psychologist was able to diagnose him as an "autistic savant", the phrase given to a handful of people who show the characteristic withdrawal symptoms of autism but also have a tiny area of prodigious skills.
Stephen completed his degree course at the City and Guilds arts school, in South London.
He still lives in London with his mother and his elder sister, Annette.
