Bonhams Auction, London, Knightsbridge 25 September 2007
Stephen Wiltshire MBE, the subject of a BBC documentary on his artistic skills,
produced an extraordinary pen and ink drawing of Salisbury Cathedral which was
sold by Bonhams on 25th September at Knightsbridge. This is probably the first
time such an item has ever been auctioned.
Once owned by the late Ted Heath, Prime Minister from 1970 to 74, who lived
latterly in the cathedral close, the picture was sold to aid the making of a
religious CD - the oratorio of the Passion and Resurrection left uncompleted by
Sir John Stainer in his work The Crucifixion. Canon Jeremy Davies and Simon
McEnery have produced the oratorio which was recorded with professional
musicians, vocalists and the Salisbury Cathedral Choir in July.
Writing about Stephen Wiltshire in his introduction to 'Drawings', Sir Hugh
Casson, former president of the Royal Academy, says: "Happily, every now and
then, a rocket of young talent explodes and continues to shower us with its
sparks.
Stephen Wiltshire - who was born with severe speech difficulties - is one of
those rockets." He then describes the artistic brilliance further: "His sense
of perspective seems to be faultless… I've never seen in all my competition
drawing such a talent, such a natural and extraordinary talent, that this child
seems to have... (Stephen) is possibly the best child artist in Britain."
Alistair Laird, Director of Bonhams 19th Century Paintings, sold this
extraordinary work for over three times of its previous estimate. "I cannot
think of anything of this nature ever being sold by any auction house. The
level of skill is amazing considering Stephen had never had a single day's
formal art training. What we see is his innate ability to capture a highly
complex image with an instinctive brilliance of line that is breathtaking.
> BONHAMS AUCTION HOUSE
> BACK