Johnny Depp has created a self-portrait using the emotions of recent years and is selling the finished product as a time-limited edition.
In the middle of a heated legal battle with his ex-wife, Amber Heard, which took place in courtrooms on both sides of the Atlantic, the actor started working on the project, titled “Five,” around 2021.
Signed editions of “Five” are on sale for 13 days starting at $1,950.
In a video published on Thursday to advertise the auction, Depp said, “It was created at a time that was, let’s say, a little bit dark, a little bit confusing.” I basically just put “Five” on there because I was about to start the fifth year of the crazy, according to the author.
The managing director of Castle Fine Art, which is arranging the sale of “Five,” Ian Weatherby-Blythe, stated, “I think this is the most personal piece he’s ever done.” The gallery also managed Depp’s “Friends & Heroes” portrait series, his first art collection, which was a sell-out.
You have to wait 20 seconds.
“He went back to the eyes numerous times. And when you examine the work, you can see that it is a lovely portrait.
How Johnny Depp’s art was affected by the Amber Heard defamation trial:
Heard requested a temporary restraining order against the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor when she filed for divorce in May 2016.
Depp sued Heard for libel in April 2022 after Heard described herself in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Ultimately, a Virginia jury found Heard guilty of three counts of defamation against Depp and gave him a $15 million judgement. Depp was found guilty of one count of libel in a countersuit, and Heard received $2 million in damages.
In 2020, a British judge declared that a tabloid report calling Depp “a wife beater” was “substantially true.” Hollywood quickly severed its links with Depp after the U.K. decision, removing him from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Fantastic Beasts” franchises, respectively.
According to Depp, the fashion label Dior “as much as it was painful… stuck to their guns,” and the opening shot of “Five” is taken from the photo that marked the beginning of his Dior Sauvage campaign, which was overseen by creative director Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
Depp revisited the piece a few months ago, made some changes, and then chose to put it in the open as what he sees as a form of artistic therapy.
Self-portraiture, according to Johnny Depp, is not the most comfortable thing:
“Five” is the first time Depp has attempted to capture his own likeness; it was created using archival pigment in the manner of his earlier series of portraits. Described as purposefully intimate and having a cheaper price tag, the smaller piece of art “Five” depicts the actor in a worn-out emotional state.
Self-portraits are not the most comfortable thing to do, according to Depp, who said that he would sit with a mirror and draw himself from various perspectives, times, and lights.
It should just be an expression that is spewed out as it is.
Additionally, he plans to autograph “each and every one,” according to Weatherby-Blythe. He stated that he had already made the commitment and that he wanted to make his artwork available to as many people as possible while also doing his best to support Mental Health America by trying to generate as much money as he could.
Each sale must result in a donation to the charity of $200.
The actor who was once one of the most bankable stars in movies, Depp, may have prevailed in court, but the public’s perception of him is still divisive.
Both fans of the stars and art collectors, in Weatherby-Blythe’s opinion, will be interested.