Johnny Depp unveils self-portrait he painted during legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Johnny Depp has painted the emotions of recent years into a self-portrait and is offering the result for sale as a time-limited edition. The actor began working on the piece, titled 'Five', around 2021 in the midst of an explosive dispute with his ex-wife, Amber Heard, which played out in courtrooms on both sides of the Atlantic.

«I think this is the most personal piece he's ever done,» said Ian Weatherby-Blythe, managing director of Castle Fine Art, which is handling the sale of 'Five' The gallery also oversaw Depp's sold-out debut art collection, the series of portraits «Friends & Heroes.» «He revisited the eyes over and over and over again. And when you look at the piece, you know, it's a beautiful portrait.

But when you look at the eyes there's something very meaningful behind the eyes, there's something, you know, quite sad.» «It was created at a time that was, let's say, a bit dark, a bit confusing,» Depp said in a video released Thursday to promote the sale. «Essentially, I just wrote 'Five' on there because I was just about to enter the fifth year of the madness.» Priced from £1,950 ($1,950), signed editions of 'Five' go on sale at 1600 GMT Thursday for 13 days.

Heard filed for divorce in May 2016, seeking a temporary restraining order against the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star. In April 2022, Depp began a libel trial he brought against Heard, based on a 2018 Washington Post op-ed piece in which she referred to herself as «a public figure representing domestic abuse.» A Virginia jury eventually ruled that Heard had defamed Depp on three counts and awarded him $15 million in damages.

In a countersuit, Depp was found guilty of one charge of libel and Heard was awarded $2 million. A British court had ruled in 2020