Few years ago, Brad Pitt And Johnny Depp they competed for the Oscar of the best and most beautiful Hollywood actors: the world was divided into those who preferred the first or the second and, today, it seems that this dualism can also be shifted to the art front itself. In fact, if a few months ago Pitt presented his first museum exhibition at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland, together with friends Thomas Houseago and Nick Cave, in recent days the art market has been hit by a sort of craze for Depp’s serigraphs. In a few days, the works, printed in limited editions, were all sold, up to the remarkable total figure of 4.5 million pounds.
After the end of the stormy divorce dispute with Amber Heard, which ended only last summer, Depp is keeping away from the United States and is spending his days in Great Britain, dedicating himself to his passion ever, the one for music. And for his extravagance, certainly. A few weeks ago, the star landed in the garden in front of Hemswell Antique Centers in Gainsborough, England, one of the most prestigious antique shops in the world, directly with his helicopter. What did he buy? Posters, furniture, some paintings and of course three guitars. “You chose a vase with a skull on it,” the store employees said.
But Depp’s creativity is also expressed in shapes, lines and colours, in addition to music and dramatic entrances. In the series of serigraphs, entitled “Friends & Heroes II”, four public figures who died in more or less tragic circumstances are portrayed, the actors Heath Ledger and River Phoenixthe musician Bob Marley and the writer and journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Offered for sale by Castle Fine Art in London, the complete series was on sale for £17,500, while the price for a single work was £3,700 and within two weeks all 780 prints were sold out. «Each image is an intimate reflection of their character in Johnny’s eyes; a portrait of how they revealed themselves to him», reads the description on the Castle Fine Art website. «Working from photographic references, each image was reduced to a simpler, more iconic representation of the subject, which Johnny then developed and animated with his characteristic freehand flourishes».
However, this is not a debut. Already last year, another collection of signed prints by Depp, entitled “Friends & Heroes I”, which included Keith Richards, Al Pacino, Bob Dylan and Elizabeth Taylor, it went sold out, at just under 5 thousand euros each. Speaking of friends, Al Pacino is also the producer of Depp’s first film as a director, a biopic about Amedeo Modigliani. Based on the play of the same name by Dennis McIntyre and adapted for the screen by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowskithe film will take place in Paris in 1916, crossing 48 turbulent and eventful hours of the existence of the great Italian artist.