School days painting Syd Barrett gifted to his art teacher goes to auction
Orange Dahlias in a Vase is expected to fetch £3,000 to £5,000
A rare school days painting by Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett that he gifted to his art teacher 60 years ago will go under the hammer later this month.
The decidedly Van Gogh-esque watercolour and pastels picture is named Orange Dahlias in a Vase, and Syd Barrett created it aged 15 in October 1961 when he was a pupil at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.
The late music icon's future band mate Roger Waters and Pink Floyd artist Storm Thorgerson also attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys at the same time.
As a parting gift, Barrett personally gave the painting to art teacher Gerald Harden and signed it ‘R. Barrett. / Oct. 1961’ shortly before he went to study art at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology.
Orange Dahlias in a Vase is estimated to fetch £3,000 - £5,000 at the Cheffins Art & Design Sale in Cambridge on Thursday 27th May 2021.
Syd Barrett - Orange Dahlias in a Vase (1961):
Gerald Harden’s son, Philip Harden, who currently owns the painting and was a boyhood friend of Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett and Roger Waters, says: “I used to go and visit Roger on a regular basis and I even remember playing cowboys and Indians and watching the first Doctor Who shows with him and Roger Waters back in the 1960s. They both went off to art college and disappeared from my life and the next time I saw them they were Pink Floyd.
“Roger Barrett was a kind and thoughtful person, with a joyful and almost childlike wit and humour. He was a great fun person to be around in those early days and he was incredibly creative, and would often be seen painting for hours on end.
“I remember my father bringing this picture back home after Roger had given it to him, it had been put up on the wall in the classroom and my father kept it as part of his portfolio. It has something incredibly special about it and I would recognise it immediately as his style at the time, he was a very gifted artist.
“We have decided to sell it as it has been in storage for some years now and we feel it is time for someone else to enjoy it. We know that Roger Barrett became a worldwide phenomenon; he stood for so many things in different people’s minds, and we think there must be someone amongst his army of fans who could really treasure it.”
Brett Tryner, Director at Cheffins, adds: “Syd Barrett remains one of the greatest icons in the world of rock music, and while he is foremost known as the founder of Pink Floyd, he was also a talented and accomplished artist.
“Although the pictures from his later life have been well-publicised, this present lot is a window into the artwork of his earlier days, before he went on to create the band which changed the world of music throughout the sixties.
“There are few original pictures by Syd Barrett still in existence, especially as during the later years he took to finishing a painting, photographing it and then burning the canvas. The picture on offer at this sale therefore presents a rare opportunity to purchase a painting from Barrett’s early days and is bound to be of special significance for his legions of fans both in Cambridge and from further afield.”
You can find out more about the Syd Barrett auction right here.
In November 2006, four months after Syd Barrett’s death aged 60, nine of his paintings were sold for £121,000 at a Cheffins auction with proceeds used to fund art training in Cambridge.