Savant Draws New York Cityscape — from Memory
London-born artist Stephen Wiltshire is a rare gem in a global mine of unpolished stones. Diagnosed with autism at age three and functionally mute until the age of five, Wiltshire was discovered to have an affinity for drawing, a talent that has proven him as an artistic savant. He has grown into a world-renowned artist with degrees from City and Guilds of London Art School, multiple published books, many international trips to complete commissioned drawings—and in 2006, he was “named by Queen Elizabeth II as a Member of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of his services to the art world.”
In October 2011 he hopped aboard a helicopter and took a visual tour of New York City, only to return to an 18-foot canvas in a studio at the Pratt Institute and recreate the entire skyline from memory. The level and complexity of detail is unreal—down to archways, size and number of windows, even the number of columns along a building’s façade. All from a single pass overhead.
In addition to his potent photographic memory, Wiltshire is an accomplished singer—of opera, no less—identified as having perfect pitch. A neuropsychologist studying Wiltshire in 1993 noted that only once before, in the history of her studies and in the medical literature, had she come across a savant with advanced skills in more than one area.
Make sure to head over to Wiltshire’s very comprehensive and engaging websiteand spend some time in his galleries where cityscapes of London, Rome, Madrid, Dubai, and others are listed. If your mind isn’t blown, you might be dead.
Do the best you can, and never stop.” –Stephen Wiltshire
