Depp sold 780 pieces
Within hours of announcing the sale on Instagram, Depp sold 780 pieces through Castle Fine Art's 37 galleries, including one in London's Covent Garden. The Friends And Heroes collection features portraits of people who have inspired him, such as Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor. "I've always used art to express myself," said the 59-year-old stars.
"My paintings are all around me, but I keep them to myself and limit myself. Nobody should ever put themselves in a box. The actor stated that he used his artwork, which included images of Al Pacino and folk legend Bob Dylan, to "reflect on those who matter the most to me, such as my family, friends, and people I admire."
Each work sold for around $5,000.
On Thursday, all 780 pieces sold within hours, with framed individual images selling for around $5,000 and the entire portfolio of four images selling for more than $18,000. Depp's Instagram post captioned simply "NOW AT #CASTLEFINEART," caused a surge of traffic to the gallery's website, causing it to crash.
Pop art with feeling
The gallery described the actor's work as "at the intersection of pop art and street art" and "pop art with feeling" in a press release. The gallery had long been in discussions with Mr. Depp about hosting an exhibition and sale of his work, and it hopes to do so again in the future.
One after the highly publicized lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard
The sale comes after Mr. Depp's high-profile US court case against his ex-wife Amber Heard was settled last month. A jury found a 2018 Washington Post article Heard wrote about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse to be defamatory and awarded Depp $15 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Heard won one of three counter-claims, arguing that Depp's press agent defamed her, and the jury awarded her $2 million in damages.
The case came after he lost a UK libel case against the Sun newspaper in November 2020 over an article that called him a "wife beater." According to the judge, the paper demonstrated that what was in the article was "substantially true."
Mr. Depp raised nearly $800,000 for charity earlier this month by selling a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called Never Fear Truth, which also depicted his close friends and heroes.
Selena Mattei