Rocky Statue Anchors New Exhibition on Monumental Influence
A statue of Sylvester Stallone’s fictional boxer Rocky Balboa serves as the centerpiece of a new exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, opening this weekend. The show explores the influence and significance of monuments, marking two thousand years of boxing and celebrity culture.
Installed in 1982 on the museum’s famous steps, known as the “Rocky Steps,” the statue was placed six years after the 1976 film Rocky propelled Stallone to stardom. It has since become one of Philadelphia’s most visited tourist attractions, drawing approximately 4 million visitors annually.
For many, including the exhibition’s curator Paul Farber, Rocky’s story resonates on a personal level. The character’s journey from a struggling Philadelphia club fighter and debt collector to going the distance with the heavyweight champion embodies a narrative of perseverance and hope.
Exhibition Curated by Paul Farber of Monument Lab
The exhibition, titled Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments, is curated by Paul Farber, co-founder of Monument Lab, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit public art organization. Monument Lab is dedicated to promoting justice by reimagining monuments as inclusive spaces for belonging, education, and healing.
In recent years, monuments have become focal points of political and cultural debate. Farber admitted he had taken the Rocky statue for granted until he observed the consistent crowds waiting to see and photograph it.
“No matter what time of day or time of year there’s a queue. I started to research it five years ago and found as many people visit the Rocky statue as visit the Statue of Liberty – more than visit the Liberty Bell here in Philly.”
Farber described the statue as a cultural meeting place and a global pilgrimage site for individuals seeking inspiration amid hardship.
“It’s a cultural meeting ground,” Farber said. “It’s a site of global pilgrimage for people finding a way through pain and difficulty. He’s the patron saint of the underdog. But it bears mentioning that the most mythical Philadelphian is a white boxer who never lived, while there are many Black Philadelphia boxers who were and are major members of their community.”
Exhibition Marks Rocky Franchise’s 50th Anniversary
The exhibition coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Rocky film franchise, which includes six films, the latest titled Rocky Balboa. The museum aims to address why millions worldwide continue to visit the Rocky statue during a period of monument reevaluation.
The exhibition argues that fighters have been public figures for millennia. It features a diverse array of works, including ancient sculptures such as the Hellenistic Seated Boxer, 19th-century European art, images from boxing’s golden age in the United States—including Jack Johnson, the first Black world heavyweight boxing champion—and contemporary artists like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Glenn Ligon.
At the heart of the exhibition is the bronze statue from the 1982 film Rocky III.
Controversy and Artistic Debate Surrounding the Statue
Louis Marchesano, deputy director of curatorial affairs and conservation at the museum, acknowledged the complex history of the statue.
“We had a very fraught relationship with a statue that started off as a movie prop,” Marchesano said. “And we fought really hard at one point to have it removed.”
Sylvester Stallone has also commented on the significance of the museum steps.
“The steps of the museum had seemed ‘like a magical area, an intellectual bastion that I would only look at from afar, like another city, the Acropolis or some incredible monument.’”
“We’ve seen him squalor, we’ve seen him running across cobble stones – wet, cold, dank, whatever. The fact that he eventually runs from squalor and poverty, and decides that what will determine the pinnacle of his success is to run up the steps of this magnificent structure that he doesn’t understand what is inside or what it represents.”
Stallone commissioned the bronze statue from Colorado sculptor A Thomas Schomberg, whose works are included in several U.S. museums. Farber shared insights from his discussions with Schomberg regarding the statue’s artistic status.
“I spent a lot of time with the artist, whose work is renowned, but is plagued by that question, and it haunted me,” Farber said. “I spent time in his studio and looked at his process and understood the other work he made … they could have asked for a styrofoam prop. But he worked with an artist who works in bronze.”
