Johnny Depp bags nearly £3M in 'Friends & Heroes II' portrait sales

Johnny Depp earned £2,925,000 from the sales of his "Friends & Heroes II" collection of silk-screen prints of people he admires through a London gallery. He hand-painted portraits of Heath Ledger, Bob Marley, River Phoenix, and Hunter S. Thompson.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star sold all 780 prints which were valued at £3,750 each. A framed set of all four portraits which comes signed by the actor is still available for £14,583.331 from Castle Fine Art.

"These new additions to his Friends & Heroes collection from the notable actor, musician, and artist are again stylistically bold and intensely individual and see Depp depict people he has known well or who have inspired him as a person. Each image is an intimate reflection of their character in Johnny's eyes; a portrayal of how they have revealed themselves to him, either personally or via their art," reads the description of the collection on Castle Fine Art's website.

Three of the subjects; Phoenix, Ledger, and Thompson, were Depp's friends and colleagues in the movie industry. He never met Marley but has been a long-time admirer of the singer because of his wisdom. He considers Marley "one of two great prophets of his generation alongside Bob Dylan."

"I'd like to see these four people together. It would be fascinating. All legends absolutely. The early demise of Heath, the early demise of River, those are tragedies," the actor told Castle Fine Art in an interview adding, "They didn't have enough time on this earth, but in the time that they did have, they certainly planted their individuality, their uniqueness, their world, their heart, their emotions, their sense of humour out there into the world so we know them. So they said a lot in their short lives."

"Hunter, of course, had a bit more time on the planet than some of those guys, and his voice will always live through his books as Heath and River will always live through their films, and Bob through his music."

Speaking about his passion for the arts, Depp said that he held himself strictly to the movie business for many years even though in his heart he has always been a musician and that he "always needed to escape into a blank piece of paper, whether it be writing, drawing or painting a blank canvas."

The 59-year-old decided to go public with his art nonchalantly thinking "that if people go for it that's great and if not, that's alright too." But he was greatly surprised to receive mostly positive reactions when he released his first "Friends & Heroes" collection. He said, "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. I am glad they are interested."

His first "Friends & Heroes" collection released in July 2022 sold for over $3.6 million, according to People. It included portraits of Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Al Pacino, and Elizabeth Taylor. He said that "there was something kind of lyrical" when he first saw the portraits presented at Castle Fine Art. He "felt the relationship between them all for the first time and the feeling was a lot stronger" than he imagined it would be.

Depp shared that he looked forward to doing a "Friends & Heroes II" collection after that as a way to thank those people who have become a part of his life. He shared, "Simply for me to be able to say thank you to all those people for having either been in my life, been a part of my life, or having affected me to the degree that they have."