Nine works from Jean-Michel Basquiat are to be auctioned by Christie’s London, in a sale from the art collection of Johnny Depp. Although this seems timed to take advantage of a recent major auction success of Basquiat and renewed interest in Depp, thanks to the spectacularly ugly and public breakdown of his marriage to actress Amber Heard, the auction was apparently long-planned, according to Christie’s.

Nevertheless, it looks set to capitalize on the record-breaking sale of “Untitled” (1982), which fetched $57.3m at the auction house’s New York event in May.

Artnet observes that Depp’s “Pork Sans” (1981) is estimated to sell for between $3.6m and $5m.

The pieces were collected over a 25-year period, starting after Depp shot to fame as the title character in Edward Scissorhands, and almost exclusively focus on Basquat’s 1981 output, Christie’s notes, that being the time in which the artist started having a global impact on the art world.

The two-day Post-War and Contemporary Art auction takes place on June 29 and 30, 2016, and also includes works from Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

US actress Amber Heard filed for divorce from actor husband Johnny Depp in May.