Actor Johnny Depp turns to tarot to inspire art collection

LONDON (Reuters) - Actor Johnny Depp has turned to tarot iconography to inspire an art collection that includes a tribute to his former partner, French actor and singer Vanessa Paradis, and goes on sale on Thursday.

"Tarot" comprises four pieces: "The Lovers", "The Empress", "The Emperor" and "Strength", each nodding to the card imagery.

"I've always been tremendously curious about the tarot," Depp said in a video.

"There's a great art to the cards themselves, dating back to forever ago and the unseen art of reading the cards."

"The Lovers" depicts a well-dressed couple, with the male holding a red rose, while "The Empress", featuring a female figure wearing a weathered crown, pays tribute to Paradis with whom Depp was together for 14 years before their 2012 split. They have two children, and Depp said they had remained "very close".

"Strength" depicts a gazing elephant and is inscribed with the words: “Why do you want to fight with something that doesn’t want to fight with you?". It was inspired by a painting Depp made when Paradis was pregnant.

Eyeless but with made-up red lips, "The Emperor" recalls a 17th-century French monarch and was inspired by a work Depp made while filming "Jeanne du Barry", in which he played King Louis XV, in Versailles.

The movie, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, marked Depp's first major role since his 2022 high-profile defamation trial against his ex-wife, actor Amber Heard.

Depp's "Tarot" series, limited to 195 editions and priced at $4,500 for an individual framed piece, follows previous collections by the actor. It will be sold by British art retailer Castle Fine Art.

(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; editing by Barbara Lewis)