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Richard WawroScottish savant artist
Date of Birth: 14.04.1952
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Biography of Richard Wawro
Richard Wawro was a Scottish artist and savant, renowned for his pastel landscapes. He was born to a Scottish school teacher mother and a Polish military officer and engineer father, who led a settled life working as a librarian in Fife.
At the age of three, Richard was diagnosed with moderate to severe intellectual disability, later recognized as autism. He struggled to speak until the age of 11, and after undergoing cataract surgery, his vision became so weak that he was officially declared blind.
Even as a young child learning to walk, Richard began drawing on a chalkboard. He started working with pastels at a local children's center and soon his talent was noticed. Professor Marian Bohusz-Szyszko from the Polish School of Arts was amazed by Richard's drawings, describing them as "an incredible phenomenon presented with the precision of a mechanic and the vision of a poet."
Early Success
Richard's first exhibition took place in Edinburgh in 1969 when he was only 17 years old. In the early 1970s, one of his exhibitions was attended by Margaret Thatcher, who was the Minister of Education at the time. She purchased some of his works, as did Pope John Paul II.
Richard Wawro sought his father's approval for each painting until his father's death in 2002. He sold over 1000 paintings at approximately 100 exhibitions. His original artwork was first showcased in the United States in 1977 at the "English conference on Creativity for the Gifted and Talented" held by the National Council of Teachers in New York.
Legacy and Recognition
Richard Wawro's life and works were the subject of the documentary film "With Eyes Wide Open," which premiered in 1983 and received numerous awards in many countries.
Sadly, Richard Wawro passed away from lung cancer at the age of 54 in 2006. He worked in a unique style for pastel art, specializing in landscapes and seascapes characterized by intense depth and color. Despite not using models like other savants, Richard drew from images he had seen only once, such as on television or in books, often adding his own touch to the painting. His phenomenal memory allowed him to recall where he had painted each artwork and provide the exact date. Richard was particularly inspired by light, and the tones he used to capture light and shadow were masterfully chosen.
