Lor has just unveiled and goes on sale immediately, theself-portrait made by Johnny Deppactor, musician and painter, is called “Five” and is the most personal of his works so far.
The painting, as told by the actor-artist, was born in the studio of his close friend Ralph Steadman in 2021 as it entered the fifth year of a challenging period in his life. The creation of the work was for him a way to healing through creativity.
In 2023 Depp then returned to the work and revisited it, after reflecting on the original composition making further embellishments. And after years in which “Five” was kept private, it is the artist who has now decided to share it with the world.
Johnny Depp signs his work “Five”. Photo: Elliot Nyman
this work, the first self-portrait for Depp, follows the hugely successful series that used to be called Friends & Heroesand it will be put on sale today at 19 Italian time (at 17:00 GMT) for only 13 days (a symbolic number for the artist) at a price of £1,950/$1,950/€2,500 on Castlefineart.com and in their galleries in the UK.
For each print sold, $200 will go directly to Mental Health Americaa charity scommunity-based non-profit dedicated to the promotion of mental health, well-being and the prevention of mental illness.
“Five” offers a uniquely personal insight into Johnny’s innermost feelings and emotions. The piece is deliberately intimate and expresses the character and emotional state of the sitter at the time. The reference artwork that inspires “Five” pays homage to a photograph taken for Christian Dior Parfums in 2015. The photograph was used to announce Depp as the face of Dior Sauvage in a shot by French photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino. Johnny chose this particular image in honor of Dior and the loyalty they have always shown him.
The work “Five”, self-portrait of Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp on his work
In the video interview released on Youtube, Johnny Depp says: «I did it at Ralph Steadman’s in his studio around 2021». The self-portrait was created at a time when the actor was «yes let’s say a little dark a little confused», however recently the artist has «looked at it and I don’t know why I thought it needed something else, more information, when I felt the need to write, basically the countdown of the years».
The title of the work. “Five”, comes from «I was about to enter the fifth year of insanity»the reference of the portrait «is that of a photo taken for Dior by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, he has a great eye and the fantastic thing about his shots are the eyes […] you see something behind the eyes […] it’s a painful process but it’s been incredible, if you can read something in the eyes that can affect you if if that can have any effect others see some sort of truth.
Compared to making a self-portrait Johnny Depp explains that «It’s not the easiest thing to make, even if in one way or another everything you do is a self-portrait. I sat in front of the mirror for days, with different lights, different angles» and adds «I appreciate portraits of people that are really realistic like a photograph, but […] being able to bring out what the figure represents for you serves an expression».
Regarding the sale, Depp specifies that «For each print sold, 200 dollars will go directly to Mental Health America, a wonderful facility and is an extremely worthy causeand that they do a great job there so yes $200 of each print will go to them.”
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