Sylvester Stallone sells original painting for nearly $500,000 at charity auction

Sylvester Stallone sold his own original artwork for $410,000 at a recent charity auction.

The 78-year-old Rambo star revealed his lesser-known talent in a clip he shared with TMZ.

He filmed the high-energy bidding war for his piece titled ‘Knocking Heads’ held at The Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas on Friday night.

His work is an almost wall-sized canvas filled with vibrant green, yellow and red tones – seemingly inspired by a street-graffiti meets cubism style.

And in true Sly fashion, the work sees a stenciled depiction of himself as his iconic character Rocky Balboa and other abstract faces lost in thought. At the bottom left, the words ‘Still fighting – 12/21/18’ can be seen etched into the canvas in glossy paint.

Back in March 2023, the actor gave fans a close-up of ‘Knocking Heads’ in an Instagram post that showed various other paintings.

Sylvester Stallone sold his own original artwork for $410,000, which he pledged to donate to AIDS research; seen in November

Back in March 2023, the actor gave fans a close-up of ‘Knocking Heads’ – the almost wall-sized canvas filled with vibrant green, yellow and red tones

Sly revealed to the outlet that the funds would be donated to AIDS research at the Sin City gala, which is hosted by the amfAR Foundation.

In an earlier Instagram post the Hollywood vet shared, showing off another original piece, he revealed he started painting at the age of nine, while encouraging fans to try the hobby.

Stallone said: ‘People asked me when I started painting, in fact they used to tie a chop around my neck to get the family dog ​​to play with me. So I decided I better entertain myself. And I started painting when I was about nine, and it turned out to be very interesting. I recommend it to everyone’

He rhapsodized about the benefits of painting and how he sketched the characters from his Rocky hit movie for inspiration before writing about them.

“Before I started writing Rocky, for example, I always drew the characters before I wrote about them, so I had an idea of ​​what the image was going to be,” said the actor-turned-artist. “So I wasn’t just randomly writing about a nebulous person. It’s actually a specific image.’

The New York native went on to explain his minimalist piece ‘Before Thought’ and how it served as an exercise for him to express the ‘things knocking around’ in his head.

‘And this one, I think I’ll call it “before thinking”, before we have an idea. You have inspiration, inspiration. You can’t put your finger on it, it’s probably just all this stuff banging around in your head. I call it “rooftop brain talk,” he said.

‘You know. It’s out there, all these different images. And then finally it settles into an image that we can relate to, like: a person, a thing, a horse and flower.’

The Hollywood vet revealed that he started painting at the age of nine; seen in March 2023

Sly explained that painting entered his life during an ’empty time’ when we thought he was ‘wasting’ his untapped creativity

He continued in the inspiring caption: ‘For me, a writer, painting goes beyond words – it’s indescribable. The brush is my vessel and the strokes are my voice’

‘A tumultuous dance of thoughts before inspiration strikes. If you are bored, find an outlet. Start creating. Keep hitting,’ he wrote

Sly explained that painting entered his life during an ’empty time’ when he believed he was ‘wasting’ his untapped creativity.

“I needed a change and I found it on a blank canvas,” he wrote to his audience of 18.9 million followers.

He continued in the inspiring caption: ‘For me, a writer, painting goes beyond words – it’s indescribable. The brush is my vessel and the strokes are my voice.

‘A tumultuous dance of thoughts before inspiration strikes. If you are bored, find an outlet. Start creating. Keep hitting.’

In his 2023 post showcasing ‘Knocking Heads’ he admitted he had taken a break from painting but felt the time had come for him to return to the hobby.

“It’s time to start painting again… what’s wonderful about painting, it’s like writing a short script, but instead of words, you use lines and colors to tell your story,” he wrote.