Entertainment
Johnny Depp earns more than $3.6 million after his paintings sold out in hours
The London gallery said Johnny Depp's work was its "best-selling collection to date."
July 29, 2022 8:09pm
Updated: July 30, 2022 2:05pm
Actor Johnny Depp is also a fine artist, and is making millions from his artwork.
The 59-year-old actor earned more than $3.6 million after releasing 780 prints of his work through the Castle Fine Art gallery in London, which sold out "almost immediately" after they were made available for sale Thursday, The England based Sunday-Times reported.
The "Friends & Heroes" series, his first formal foray into the world of visual art, features four portraits of Bob Dylan, Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino and Keith Richards, sold both individually and as a set. According to the gallery, Depp focused on "people he has known well and who have inspired him as a person."
Each limited edition portrait is priced online for $3,973, with the set of four retailing for $15,040.
"I have always used art to express my feelings and reflect on those who matter most to me, such as my family, friends and people I admire," Depp said in a statement shared by the gallery. "My paintings surround my life but I kept them to myself and limited myself. No one should ever limit themselves."
Ahead of Thursday's release, the gallery posted a behind-the-scenes photo on Instagram of Depp painting in the studio. The same day, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star shared a snapshot of himself posing with the four-part set, framed and hanging on a wall.
Fans clamored for the series, and "this first worldwide release proved to be our best-selling collection to date, selling out in just hours," said Castle Fine Art.
The sale comes weeks after his ex-wife Amber Heard's request for a mistrial was denied by the judge, who ruled that the verdict in her Virginia defamation trial stands. On June 1, the seven-person jury returned the verdict, which mostly sided with Depp and awarded him more than $10 million in damages. Heard, 36, received $2 million for one of her defamation counterclaims.
A week after a judge denied the actress' mistrial request, Heard filed a notice of appeal with the Virginia Court of Appeals on July 21 and Depp filed his own notice of appeal the next day, seeking to overturn the $2 million verdict on Heard's counterclaim.
In the weeks since the trial, Depp has been touring abroad, performing with guitar legend Jeff Beck, with whom he released an album. Heard did a sit-down interview with NBC News' Savannah Guthrie, in which she said she stands behind every word of her testimony and still bears "no ill will" toward Depp.
