An elegant fairy tale Sylph Barrett and her sizzling dream art

27 maart 2025 Dorian

An elegant fairy tale

Sylph Barrett and her sizzling dream art

The Leiden artist Sylph Barrett seems to have stepped out of a Tim Burton film.[1] She looks so ethereal that the urge to check whether her shoes are weighted with lead to prevent her from disappearing into the clouds, has to be suppressed.[2]

Once upon a time there was a girl in nursery school who could not be kept from the drawing board is a fitting sentence to start this article with. The teacher sometimes tried to guide me to other tables, but I did not let that happen. It will not have surprised anyone at the time that the future artist, who still (occasionally) goes by the name Sylvia Borreman, would follow an artistic education.[3]

Art and literature

During her studies at those academies in The Hague, Delvaux, Dali and Magritte became her favourite painters.[4] I would also like to mention Mondrian, especially his painting Evolution.[5] More generally, she developed a soft spot for symbolism, expressionism and magical realism.[6]

It is striking that a number of Leiden artists can be labelled magical realist, such as Theo Lohman, Fred Hansen and Willem Breddels.[7] Sylph Barrett naturally also fits into this illustrious list!

During her art education, Barrett also took the time to delve into literature. She became addicted to Dutch authors such as Van Eeden, Adema van Scheltema and Gorter.[8]

However, English writers such as Dickens, Austen and Carroll stole her heart.[9] That literature touched me. I had already developed a connection with England at a young age. As a teenager I knew for sure that I would go there. And London was my city.

London

After her studies in the Netherlands, Barrett left for London. There she continued her education at the Heatherley School of Fine Art. This famous art academy was home to Burne-Jones, Rossetti and Millais, among others.[10]

I am crazy about the work of Rackham, who I started studying during my education in England.[11] This artist provided the illustrations for a reissue of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at the beginning of the twentieth century.

I have a thing for the first decades of the twentieth century, especially the roaring twenties.[12] If only there was a time machine that would allow me to go back to that era. How wonderful it would be to be able to talk to all those artists and see them at work.

The roaring twenties

Barrett developed a fascination with clothing during that time.[13] I was invited to fancy dress parties every now and then. I loved to appear at those parties in Charleston style.

In the English capital, she soon became a regular visitor to The Marquee.[14] None other than David Bowie made his debut in this legendary music club! Towards the end of the seventies, this club became the birthplace of new wave and punk.

I also worked there for a while. It was the easiest job I ever had. I just had to make sure that no one sneaked in.

I saw The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Cure perform there regularly. Later, I also met my husband there.[15] She would eventually return to Leiden with her great love.

Barrett also tried to work on animated films at the time. In London, I often visited studios where the animated films were still made by hand. It was often without result, but I did not give up hope. That her perseverance would eventually bear fruit will become clear towards the end of this article.

Back in Leiden

In Leiden, Barrett quickly started looking for a workspace. Fortunately, I got to know Fred Hansen and I was allowed to paint in his studio.[16] When I worked there, he made large works, often in pastel colours. Surrealistic and usually very spiritual.

According to Barrett, they also painted together occasionally, often to music from the Carmina Burana.[17] He sometimes worked through the night, as if he was in a trance. I especially like his meditative paintings. They have had a great influence on my own development.

Movement and colour characterise her work. I really like purple, sea green and blue. You often see these colours in my paintings. I start working without a fixed image. I don’t want to think about it too much. It happens while I’m painting. If my paintings are understood, that’s nice, but not important.

She emphasises the significance of Egyptian and Japanese art in her work. I have been making prints based on Japanese examples for quite some time and perhaps I will do so again.

As a child she liked to go to De Lakenhal to admire The Last Judgement by Lucas van Leyden. Leny Noyen is a contemporary Leiden artist for whom she has much praise.[18] I love her portraits and her human figures. She also thinks highly of the Donker brothers.[19] I once saw Gijs and his two brothers painting together in De Lakenhal. That was great.

Animation films

Over time her paintings were to be seen at many exhibitions in the Netherlands. She is also praised as an illustrator of books, suchs as Lulu in Leiden. Een vrouwengeschiedenis (Aspekt, 2020). Barrett has also managed to capitalize on her talents in animation films. She worked, for example, on Back to the Inkwell by Bijlsma. In this short film from 1992, a cartoon character is brought to life. Of course, it takes a lot of effort to get this character back in the inkwell.

Barrett also made an artistic contribution to Kroon’s Dada (1994). This also applies to Holy smoke (2000) by Renault, born in Rennes.[20]

I still find animated films from the thirties very beautiful, such as Betty Boop and Popeye. But I also continue to find Disney’s Snow white and the seven dwarfs special. The artist then added with a smile that she also enjoys watching contemporary animations such as Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the sheep.[21]

Neo-realist classics and film noir

In her personal life, Barrett says she has a preference for neo-realist films such as Ladri di biciclette and La Strada.[22] I also really like film noir. The big sleep is a favorite film of mine.[23] But I’m not a femme fatale. I never have been, Barrett added strangely hastily.

In this 1946 classic made by Hawks, Bacall and Bogart are each other’s opponents, with Bacall playing the role of an extremely seductive woman. A year earlier, the actress had married film icon Bogart at the age of twenty-one. They subsequently grew into the undisputed star couple of the United States.

The big sleep was criticized from the start because of its rather incomprehensible story. Furthermore some scenes were teeming with discrepansies and cover-ups to avoid censorship.[24]

The famous American film critic Crowther also described Bacall in this film as a dangerous looking female. After this fearful whining he sighed: she generates pressure.[25] And to complete his sorrow in the style of Schopenhauer. The worst is yet to come.[26]

Magic wood with dancing fairies

Barrett currently works for the Amsterdam Eye Film Museum. I enter stills there and process the personal correspondence of important film directors. Of course it is fascinating to read the handwritten letters of Haanstra, Verhoeven and Rademakers, or to see the family snapshots of De la Parra.[27]

Barrett also emphasizes the influence of nature on her work. The nice thing is that I go to the museum early in the morning. At half past six I am on the train and enjoy the orange and blue-yellow skies on the way. And sometimes there is mist above the water and the meadows. This natural phenomenon drove her to make Magic wood with dancing fairies.[28]

Sometimes I am asked in a very funny way whether I live in a fairytale forest. I love fairytales. They inspire me to this day. As a child I already enjoyed worlds full of elves.

It is by no means my intention to wake people from their dreams. It is evident that Barrett gives color and magic to art and life. Nevertheless, she simply lives in Leiden.

Noten

[1] Facts about Barrett can be found on http://www.deleidschemondialen.nl/leden/sylvia-sylph-barrett/, http://galeriecafeleidselente.nl/galerie/; http://galeriebeeldschoon.nl/de%20kunstenaars/sylph.html.

[2] See Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children. Burton 2016. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Peregrine%27s_Home_for_Peculiar_Children.

[3] At the age of sixteen, she began taking lessons in drawing and painting. Jan Sierhuis and Nol Kroes were among her teachers at the Free Academy in The Hague. She then pursued a five-year study at the Royal Academy of Art, also in The Hague.

[4] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Delvaux; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Magritte.

[5] https://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/nl/collectie/evolutie; https://historiek.net/de-amsterdamse-jaren-van-piet-mondriaan/22991/; https://www.artsalonholland.nl/grote-meesters-kunstgeschiedenis/piet-mondriaan; https://kunstvensters.com/2015/03/08/mondriaan-had-vaker-moeten-verhuizen/.

[6] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionisme; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolisme; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magisch_realisme; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magisch_realisme_(literatuur).

[7] Theo Lohman is particularly known for his depiction of the burned-down Leiden city hall. See: https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/artists/50631; https://www.kunstgalerie-arnold.nl/artist.asp?GroupID=532; Fred Hansen. See: https://leiden.courant.nu/issue/LD/1995-09-25/edition/0/page/11; https://kunstgaleriedebleyenhoeve.nl/Le-Marquis-Fred-Hansen; Willem Breddels. See: https://sleutelstad.nl/2007/03/24/leidse-kunstschilder-willem-breddels-vakman-en-filmster/.

In 2011, an intriguing novel was published, partly set in Leiden, titled The Thinker and the Dreamer. This story, written by Jongsma, clearly exhibits magical realism and, moreover, features a great deal of dreaming! I would like to share a joke from this book with the reader: ‘You may know the joke where the Earth says to another planet, “I’m suffering from Homo sapiens,” to which the other replies, “That will pass on its own.” ‘ From The Thinker and the Dreamer (Amsterdam, 2011), page 101.

[8] ø

[9] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen.

[10] https://www.artbiogs.co.uk/2/schools/heatherleys-school-fine-art; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heatherley_School_of_Fine_Art; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burne-Jones; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti; https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Everett_Millais.

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rackham.

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Twenties.

[13] Myself with my own clothing. These clothes were exhibited at the ‘Sixties’ exhibition at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam (2015-2016).