Savants: are they the only artists who make work for themselves?

Savant syndrome, sometimes abbreviated as savantism, is not a recognized medical diagnosis, but researcher Darold Treffert describes it as a rare condition in which persons with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations. Treffert says the condition can be genetic, but can also be acquired.

According to Treffert, about half of all persons with savant syndrome have autistic disorder, while the other half have another developmental disability, mental retardation, brain injury or disease. He says, "... not all autistic persons have savant syndrome and not all persons with savant syndrome have autistic disorder". Other researchers state that autistic traits and savant skills may be linked, or have challenged some earlier conclusions about savant syndrome as "hearsay, uncorroborated by independent scrutiny".

Though it is even more rare than the savant condition itself, some savants have no apparent abnormalities other than their unique abilities. This does not mean that these abilities weren't triggered by a brain dysfunction of some sort but does temper the theory that all savants are disabled and that some sort of trade-off is required.

Alonzo Clemons
Alonzo Clemons is an American animal sculptor and a savant. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Clemons suffered a severe brain injury as a child that left him developmentally disabled (with an IQ in the 40-50 range), but able to create very accurate animal sculptures out of clay. Clemons can create a sculpture of almost any animal, even if he has seen only a glimpse of it. He is also able to create a realistic and anatomically accurate three-dimensional rendering of an animal after only looking at a two-dimensional image for mere moments. He is most well known for his life-size renderings of a horse, but most of his works are smaller, and accomplished in less than an hour.
In 1986 he had a premiere exhibit in Aspen, Colorado. His works have sold for as much as $45,000

Jonathan Lerman (born 1987) is an American autistic savant outsider artist. He was born in Queens, NY, and currently resides in the Upstate New York suburb of Vestal.
Jonathan Lerman began to lapse into long silences at the age of two, and the next year he was diagnosed with autism. His IQ is purported to be 53.
Lerman's artistic bent appeared at the age of 10 in the form of charcoal-drawn faces—both people he knows and those he imagines. In 1999 he had his own solo exhibition at the KS Art gallery in New York City.
Lerman has had personal exhibitions, and has also exhibited his work alongside others.

Gilles Tréhin (born 1972) is a French artist, author, and creator of the imaginary city of "Urville". His book, also titled Urville, is based on his writings of the fictional city's history, geography, culture, and economy, and includes over 300 drawings of different districts of Urville, all done by Trehin.

Richard Wawro (April 14, 1952, Newport-on-Tay, Fife – February 22, 2006) was a Scottish artist notable for his landscapes in wax oil crayon. He was an autistic savant.
He had his first exhibition in Edinburgh when he was 17.
In the early 1970s one of his exhibitions was opened by Margaret Thatcher, then Education Minister, who bought several of his pictures, as did John Paul II.
He got his father's approval for each picture until his father died in 2002. Overall he sold more than 1,000 pictures in around 100 exhibitions.

Treffert says a savants memory is "very deep, but exceedingly narrow". There is a huge deal still unknown about savants, but I find it particularly interesting that the memory can compose such vivid data, and so sad that it cannot be put to a functional use. For instance, its been described that they use raw memory, and the reason it can be so easily replicated is that they cannot infact process it.