Johnny Depp, the well-known actor and musician, has found success in a new artistic venture: selling paintings of celebrities.
Depp’s latest collection, titled Friends and Heroes, was released at the Castle Fine Art Gallery in London’s upscale Covent Garden, and it has been a huge hit.
According to a spokesperson for the gallery, the prints have nearly sold out in just five days, with only a few River Phoenix prints left.
“On Friday they had virtually all gone,” the spokesperson said. “I expect they will have sold out as well by now.”
The collection features four pieces of reggae star Bob Marley, writer Hunter S. Thompson, and late actors Heath Ledger and River Phoenix.
All four have been snapped up by eager buyers and are now listed as “out of stock” on the gallery’s website.
Depp’s first collection of four pieces, featuring folk legend Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone Keith Richards, actress Elizabeth Taylor, and actor Al Pacino, earned him $3.6 million and sold out in July “almost immediately” after being made available for sale, according to The Sunday Times.
In total, Depp has sold eight pieces through the gallery, earning him anywhere from $17,500 to $17,800 before VAT in just a few days, depending on whether the four major works were sold individually or as a collection.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Depp expressed his gratitude for the positive reception his artwork has received.
“For many years, I really held myself strictly to just the day job of the film business, even though I’ve always needed to escape into a blank piece of paper, whether it be writing, drawing, or painting a blank canvas,” Depp said.
“Tackling something for the first time with no idea of what’s about to commence and what it will come out to be is deeply fulfilling. For people to actually see this stuff now for the first time, to react the way that they have, so positively, to whatever I have made is very moving.”
