Sylvester Stallone began painting at a young age. He used to sign his early experimental works Mike Stallone, after his first name. Stallone was forced for financial reasons to look for more profitable alternatives and tried his hand as an actor and author. His breakthrough came after difficult years at 30 as the lead actor and screenwriter of the boxing drama Rocky (1976), which became a box office hit and won the Oscar for Best Picture. Stallone became one of Hollywood's best-known stars and to this day has made mainly action films.
He never forgot painting. Parallel to the screenplay of Rocky, the mixed-media painting Finding Rocky was created in 1975. Since then, Stallone's cinematic work has been closely linked to his painting; they influenced each other. Stallone describes his paintings as »action-packed«, just as he is himself. While he only embodies roles on the screen, he shows himself in his painting in his true form. This is also the reason why Stallone for a long time could not bring himself to go public with his works.
The Osthaus Museum Hagen is now the third museum to hold an exhibition of Stallone's works. Previously, these were only on display in 2013 in St. Petersburg and in 2015 in Nice. The show »Sylvester Stallone. Retrospective on the 75th Birthday« opened in Hagen on December 04 and will run until February 20, 2022. Some 50 works by the action star will be presented there, including early works that are being shown for the first time.
