Sylvester Stallone honored in Philadelphia’s first ‘Rocky Day’
Philadelphia showed brotherly love to one of its favorite movie heroes, Sylvester Stallone, with the city’s first “Rocky Day” at the Museum of Art.
- An art exhibition at Provident Fine Art on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach showcases 35 paintings by actor Sylvester Stallone.
- The show may be the largest single exhibition of Stallone’s abstract artwork in Palm Beach, if not the U.S.
- Stallone, a Palm Beach resident, uses themes like time and masculinity in his paintings, often applying paint with a palette knife.
An exhibition at Provident Fine Art in Palm Beach is drawing attention for its bold use of color, its abstract forms and brisk use of paint — and the international cache of the artist.
The gallery at 226A Worth Ave. is now the home of the wide-ranging paintings of Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone, with 35 pieces of his artwork on display. The exhibit is open to the public during regular business hours through Dec. 31.
It may be the largest single exhibition of Stallone’s work in the United States, said Shawn David, who represents Stallone’s art through the gallery.
It is a bit of a homecoming for the 79-year-old Stallone, who moved full-time to Palm Beach after purchasing his home on the North End in 2020.
“The welcome by Palm Beach has been extraordinary,” Stallone told the Palm Beach Daily News. “I didn’t think I was going to display my art in Palm Beach, but lo and behold, it happened because of the people I’ve met and, of course, the incredible help of Shawn David in Provident Fine Art, which made that possible. And I thank them profusely.”
It’s one of the single largest exhibitions of Stallone’s work in the U.S., following museum shows in France, Russia and Germany earlier in his career.
The Palm Beach exhibition also serves as a celebration of Stallone as a multi-talented artist who will be honored Dec. 7 as a member of the class of the 48th Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Stallone is one of five honorees this year, along with country music star George Strait, rock icons KISS, Tony-award winner Michael Crawford and disco queen Gloria Gaynor. The event will be broadcast on CBS.
The paintings are abstract, oil-on-canvas works with a range of depth and use of color. Stallone favors a palette knife over a brush and often applies paint directly to the canvas.
“The paintings, some of them almost vibrate,” David said. “It might sound silly, but you can feel his energy, because he’s so intense. It really translates.”
Themes in the paintings include contemplations on masculinity, and portrayals of some of his costars, occasionally at the same time. The 1991 painting “Backlash,” is almost more mixed-media than painting. Stallone paired a large, layered, vivid painting of his “Rocky 3” and “Rocky IV” costar Mr. T with a mirror at its side, and chose an ornate gold frame. The frame is at once distinguishable from Stallone’s other pieces, for which he favors frames that are more industrial, if he uses a frame at all. The choice of a gold frame for “Backlash” more than winks Mr. T’s beloved gold chains.
Many of the paintings include references to time, often through the use of a clock icon with two simple hands, the positions of which change in each painting. Stallone said the clock has a profound meaning for him.
“Obviously this is what dictates our life,” he said. “So what I try to do with the clock is show the different time in the life of the subject on (the) painting.”
If the hour hand points to 1, it’s early in that subject’s life, Stallone said. The colors could be brighter, the strokes of paint could have a different feel, “perhaps a bit more exuberance,” he said.
“And then at 6 o’clock, time is waning, and that would affect the colors and the actual body position of the subjects,” Stallone said.
When the clock strikes 11 or 12: “That’s pretty much the end of the story,” he said. “And the colors would be more profound, darker or pensive.”
Stallone’s paintings in Palm Beach span the decades. The works trace his career in their subject matter and intensity.
As such, the show serves as a bit of a preview to the upcoming release of Stallone’s memoir “The Steps,” which will be published May 5. Instead of his life in words, the gallery show features Stallone’s life in bold, sometimes surreal scale.
The exhibition was celebrated at a Nov. 29 cocktail party at the gallery. Among the guests were key Palm Beach and international art collectors and familiar faces in fellow Palm Beach residents, including fashion designers Tommy and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger and Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier and his wife Amy.
Matthew and Adrienne Raptis of Raptis Rare Books and Churchill Cigar Co. at 329 Worth Ave. were among the attendees who already own some of Stallone’s paintings.
Two of the star’s pieces — both of which are about “Rocky” — now adorn the walls of Churchill Cigar Co., Matthew Raptis said. The character of Rocky has a story rooted in humanity, he said.
“In his art, Stallone depicts Rocky’s journey of resilience, determination and the classic underdog story, one of the reasons why I purchased them,” Raptis said. “Behind his strength and resilience, you can feel something deeper when you see his work.”
Stallone’s wife, Jennifer Flavin, and daughters Scarlet, Sistine and Sophia attended the cocktail party and seemed impressed by he scope of work represented in the exhibition.
This won’t be the last opportunity for people to catch a glimpse of Stallone’s artwork.
Provident Fine Art has a booth dedicated to Stallone’s work at the LA Art Show from Jan. 7 to 11, and again at Art Palm Beach from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Stallone will be the featured artist at each art fair.
Stallone’s first passion was painting, David said. Long before the actor-screenwriter-director became a household name for his work in movies — before starring much later in the TV series “Tulsa King” — Stallone worked on canvas.
“So long before he was a writer or actor, a director or producer, this is his first love, truly,” David said.
Stallone has spoken publicly about his painting for decades. In 1992, he talked with Oprah Winfrey about how art transformed from a hobby when he was a young teen to his “release” as he sought an outlet to bring calm into his otherwise chaotic world.
Still, people who passed by Provident on a recent evening expressed surprise at the scale and depth of Stallone’s paintings.
David’s favorite pieces by Stallone are his works from the 1960s, when Stallone’s paintings favored surrealism.
Stallone and David first connected in February at The Palm Beach Show, where Provident Fine Art had a booth. Stallone attended the VIP preview, and David gave the actor and his family a walkthrough of Provident’s space. Stallone and David chatted and they found some commonalities: their hometown of Philadelphia, their passion for physical fitness, their tattoos.
David knew that Stallone no longer had representation for his artwork, and hadn’t for about three years. Most of his paintings sat in an art storage space in West Palm Beach.
While the deal wasn’t done there at The Palm Beach Show, it soon became official: Provident Fine Art would represent Stallone. The papers were signed on David’s birthday — a big deal for a kid from Philly who grew up watching “Rambo” and “Rocky.”
“I said to him in one of our meetings at his house, ‘I didn’t ask to represent you because you’re Sylvester Stallone and who you are,'” David recalled. “‘I asked to represent you because you’re an amazingly talented artist, and you happen to be Sylvester Stallone.'”
Since June, Provident had sold at least 21 of Stallone’s paintings, David said. More pieces found owners during the preview event.
“He is absolutely mind-blown with the level of success that we’ve achieved in such a short period of time,” David said of Stallone. “It’s just a match made in heaven, quite frankly.”
For more information about the exhibition is available at ProvidentFineArt.com.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
