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Johnny Depp, the acclaimed actor, musician, and artist, reveals his new art collection, Tarot, a series limited to 195 editions, exclusively available from Castle Fine Art today, July 18th 2024.
Tarot includes four distinct works: The Lovers, The Empress, The Emperor, and Strength. These captivating figures are inspired by Depp’s life, dreams, and subconscious mind and are portrayed in a unique symbolic style.
This latest release follows Depp’s four acclaimed collections. In 2022, Depp’s debut worldwide release Friends & Heroes I sold out in a matter of hours, Friends & Heroes II and Five (2023) followed with the same iconic photographic references. Last year, Depp started a new artistic direction journey with The Bunnyman Genesis. An insight into powerful self-expression, the series explored a night-time vision of a benevolent creature, an inseparable friend and powerful self-representation of Depp.
The new collection draws inspiration from the intriguing iconography of tarot. The Emperor and The Empress are both major arcana cards in traditional decks and are depicted as crowned rulers in the artist’s interpretation. Similarly, The Lovers, typically depicted nude, are dressed in elegant formal wear. Another unique interpretation is seen in Strength, where the traditional lion is replaced with an elephant, chosen for its symbolic qualities by the artist.
Curiosity
A lover of the supernatural, Depp has long incorporated tarot into his life. Depp has assimilated the age-old iconography for this new series, taking the storied imagery of the cards as his muse. As he’s reflected, “I’ve always been tremendously curious about tarot… and there’s a great art to the cards”. Across the artworks, he conjures themes of parenthood, love, relationships, and career.
Depp joins a tradition of artists who have played with tarot, including Salvador Dalí, who spent a decade crafting his dreamlike pack, and Mexican painter Leonora Carrington, who populated her cards with mythological creatures. Depp’s four cards rework traditional designs and themes, merging the artist’s passion for symbolism, spirituality and storytelling.
The Lovers is “the beginning of the story” and conjures depictions of kindred spirits, with fluid colours reflecting a balance between masculine and feminine, conscious and subconscious. The cinematic scene, which evokes Hollywood glamour, allows for numerous readings. Depp himself has said that the male figure who holds the rose is warding off danger and “protecting” the female. The work evokes an equilibrium beyond purely romantic love. Swept into the hazy composition are themes of harmony, choice and commitment.
Although an eyeless and mysterious figure, The Emperor is authoritative and powerful but “not necessarily to be trusted”. The character, styled as a 17th-century French Monarch, was inspired by a work Depp created while filming Jeanne du Barry in Versailles. A metaphor for acting out roles, Depp says of ‘The Emperor’, “He’s not really there.”, and seems to stand for the many guises that we all wear. ‘The Emperor’ invites you to look beneath the cloak of power and authority for the true sources of strength. Depp says “it kind of represents ignorant power. I certainly.. wouldn’t dare put my own face as an emperor. Never. I made ‘The Emperor’ somewhat faceless because if you put the Emperor next to the Empress who do you trust?… The Empress.”
Tribute
The Empress pays tribute to Vanessa Paradis, the mother of Depp’s two children, and takes inspiration from a painting he did that was used for the cover of Paradis’ studio album ‘Divinidylle’. Of the tarnished crown adorned by ‘The Empress’, Depp says, “It looks like a crown that has weathered storms. It shows a certain courage and strength of commitment…. the Crown has been through a lot; she still shines.” Through this artwork, Depp has paid tribute to Paradis, with whom he has remained “very close”. Seated in a stoic pose, she appears as the artist has described her, “I know who she is inside. She’s magnificent. She’s pragmatic. She’s practical.”
Strength is inspired by a large-scale painting Depp created when expecting the birth of his first child with Vanessa Paradis. The philosophical question “Why do you want to fight with something that doesn’t want to fight with you?” is etched into the surface as if spoken by the majestic elephant that gazes at the viewer. The elephant is important to Depp, who says, “They don’t live with any sort of menace in their bone and protective their own to the bitter end.” The maternal instincts Depp saw in Paradis made him explore ideas of inner strength when painting the original elephant, stating that “a veil was lifted” when he became a parent for the first time.
Depp hopes collectors will form their own meanings and interpretations from the artworks, which can be read individually or as a set of four. He says the artworks could “represent in a way, a reading for me that I lived but also activating all the characters that I’ve played throughout my life.”
Ian Weatherby-Blythe, Managing Director of Castle Fine Art, said: “This latest collection from Johnny Depp is perhaps his most revealing and evocative. The four artworks are clearly deeply personal and showcase Johnny’s formidable skills as an artist.”
Sale opens Thursday 18 July, 2pm BST / 9am EDT exclusively from Castle Fine Art nationwide UK galleries, partner gallery Castle Contemporary 413 West Broadway, Soho, New York and worldwide, www.castlefineart.com
© Johnny Depp, Tarot ‘The Lovers’, ‘The Emperor’, The Empress’ and ‘Strength’ 2024.
Image courtesy of Castle Fine Art.Photographic credits of Johnny Depp: Pantheon Art.
Listen to Johnny Depp share the story behind the Tarot collection:
Direct link to purchase: https://www.castlefineart.com/uk/artists/johnny-depp/tarot
Edition Information:
Image size: 29’’ x 46’’, Framed Size: 34” x 50”. Edition size: 195.
Medium: Silkscreen and Archival Pigment on 640gsm Waterford paper, with hand deckled edges and 24ct gold leaf. ‘The Lovers’ is also embellished with red marbled leaf.
Each piece is individually hand signed by Johnny Depp.
Emboss stamped by hand with Johnny’s mark of authenticity, The Bunnyman.
Individual framed retail: £3,950/$4,500.
Set paper retail: £13,950/$14,500, Set framed retail: £14,950/$15,950.
The non-framed set is presented in a portfolio, handmade using the finest materials, hand-screened branding and logos to the front and reverse in gold archival pigment. The interior is covered in high-quality archival black paper with inserts to hold the artworks securely and help protect the paper’s deckled edges. The interleaf, which protects the face of the artwork inside the folio, is a 90gsm acid-free, PH-neutral semi-transparent paper.
See also: Exhibition Celebrates the Art of Chess
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