Johnny Depp auctioning Jean-Michel Basquiat art collection amid Amber Heard divorce battle

With his bitter divorce from Amber Heard expected to set him back millions, Johnny Depp has made the necessary provisions to ensure that he is not left out of pocket. The Hollywood actor is auctioning off some of his expensive art collection.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star had been in talks with Christie's auction house in London since the start of the year to offload nine of his valuable paintings by famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and the pieces are expected to go under the hammer between 29 and 30 June.

"Nothing can replace the warmth and immediacy of Basquiat's poetry, or the absolute questions and truths that he delivered," Depp said, according to Christie's press release. "The beautiful and disturbing music of his paintings, the cacophony of his silence that attacks our senses, will live far beyond our breath."

Depp and Heard got married in February 2015 after meeting on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011. However, it was not to last. On 23 May, she filed her divorce petition citing 'irreconcilable differences' after a marriage lasting 15 months and is seeking spousal support.

Their split took a nasty turn when the Magic Mike XXL actress was granted a temporary restraining order from Depp on 27 May after accusing the 53-year-old actor of emotional and physical abuse claiming he had bruised the area around her right eye after throwing an iPhone at her face.

Depp has yet to publicly address Heard's claims against him, however, his lawyer branded the allegations as nothing more than "false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life".

Meanwhile, actor Benicio Del Toro is the latest star to show support for Depp, insisting that he isn't familiar with the person Heard described in court. "What I know, there's a lot of trouble from the girl that sounds a little manipulative," he told the New York Daily News. "It seems the fact that his mom passed away and she filed for divorce two days later and then she wants money and she's saying she got hit, it's almost like, 'Wait, I saw them not too long ago'. Maybe it was January, a dinner for the Oscars or something like that. He was there with her and they were fine."

But Heard's best friend iO Tillett claims that she witnessed the brutal aftermath of Depp's alleged assaults, on more than one occasion. "The reports of violence started with a kick on a private plane, then it was shoves and the occasional punch, until finally, in December, she described an all-out assault and she woke up with her pillow covered in blood," she wrote in a blog post titled: Why I Called 911.