[Via THE FIRST POST] As everyone should know by now, the late Roger “Syd” Barrett started Pink Floyd in 1965 and left the group in 1968, eventually finding a reclusive peace in his native Cambridge. But while he will be remembered as the founder of the British psychedelic sound, who foundered on the rocks of mental illness, he would probably have preferred to be known as a visual artist.
From entering polytechnic at 16, to leaving Camberwell Art School after his foundation course, he painted big, abstract oils – a vocation he resumed in his forties, when he became a regular customer of Heffers. However, throughout his teens, he was also a furious – and often hilarious – scribbler. The sketches belong to Libby Gausden, his first – and probably most important – girlfriend, and are taken from a sheaf of letters he sent her, which she has kept for more than 40 years. [MORE]