As a number of outlets note, the earliest known painting by Pink Floyd’s founding member, the late Syd Barrett, is going under auction later this month (July 2024).
The painting, a pastel and watercolor work entitled Dried Flowers was painted by Barrett at his home in Cambridge in 1963. At the time he was studying at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology. It was at the college that Barrett would meet David Gilmour, who would eventually replace him in Pink Floyd.
Barrett remained a keen artist later in life when he lived back in Cambridge, although he was known to destroy paintings after their completion.
Dried Flowers is currently owned by Carlisle resident Brian Wernham who originally purchased the painting via the 2006 Cheffins charity auction, with the money going to Syd Barrett’s sister Rosemary Breen’s charity in Cambridge after the death of Syd in July 2006.
The auction of Dried Flowers took place at Thomson Roddick Callan’s auction of fine art in Carlisle on July 30. You can find further details here.
Syd Barrett was the band’s original frontman and primary songwriter, known for his whimsical style of psychedelia, English-accented singing, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing effects such as dissonance, distortion, echo and feedback. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.
