Claim: An autistic artist drew a rendering of the
Example: [Collected via e-mail, August 2012]
There is a story circling Facebook about an autistic man, Stephen Wiltshire who was able to draw NYC skyline after only a twenty minute helicopter ride.
Origins: Artist Stephen Wiltshire is, as described in the biography on his web site:
Stephen was born in London to West Indian parents on At the age of five, Stephen was sent to Queensmill School in London, 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.
[A]n artist who draws and paints detailed cityscapes. He has a particular talent for drawing lifelike, accurate representations of cities, sometimes after having only observed them briefly. He was awarded an MBE for services to the art world in 2006. He studied Fine Art at City & Guilds Art College. His work is popular all over the world, and is held in a number of important collections.
In October 2009, Wiltshire took a 20-minute helicopter ride over
The unbelievably intricate picture was drawn at Brooklyn's prestigious Pratt Institute from Stephen's memory, with details of every building sketched in to scale. Landmarks including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building can be seen towering above smaller buildings after just three days in his spellbinding creation. Listening intently to his iPod throughout the artistic process — because music helps him — London-born Stephen uses only graphic pens as he commits his photographic memory to the high-grade paper.
[An] astonishing 18ft drawing of the world's most famous skyline was created by autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire after he spent just
As the New York Times reported of the creation of Wiltshire's
"I always memorize by helicopter," he said, pausing from detailing the corners of a street on the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge. Mr. Wiltshire sees and draws. It is how he connects. Until age 5, he had never uttered a word. One day, his kindergarten class at a school for autistic children in London went on a field trip. When they came back, he spoke. "He said, 'Paper,'" his sister, Annette Wiltshire, said. "The teacher asked him to say it again. He said it. Then they asked him to say something else, and he said, 'Pen.'" With pen and paper in hand, he drew what he had seen that day. In time, a clever teacher taught him the alphabet by associating each letter with a place he had drawn — 'a' for Albert Hall, 'b' for Buckingham Palace, and so on.
In a helicopter above the city, Stephen Wiltshire of London looked down at the streets and sprawl of
A gallery of photos documenting Stephen Wiltshire's visit to
Last updated: 9 August 2012
 | Sources: |
Dwyer, Jim. "Like a Skyline Is Etched in His Head." The New York Times. 27 October 2009. Daily Mail. "Autistic Artist Stephen Wiltshire Draws Spellbinding 18ft Picture of New York." 29 October 2009.