Philadelphia Museum of Art

After our tour of Calder Gardens, Don and I had some ice cream at Jeni's and walked around the Schuylkill Trail until 5 pm when the Philadelphia Museum of Art institutes Pay What You Want pricing, instead of charging $30 per adult. As I only wanted to see the Rising Up exhibit about Rocky and the Making of Monuments. 

The Rocky statue was created for the 1976 cult classic, Rocky, about a fictional local boxer. I admit I have never seen the movie, but I am familiar with his racing up the stairs of the museum and his statue. I posed next it before the March 2023 7.6 mile Love Run  that starts and ends in front of the museum.

We showed up a couple of minutes early and they let us pass. We headed upstairs. The exhibit is more than the statue. It also talks about Philadelphia's history with boxing. There is a Keith Haring and an Andy Warhol on display, two of the dozen or so artists whose works I can recognize from the other side of the room. There are also screens with fights on them. Be prepared if that is triggering. 

What was most fascinating to me where the pictures of Sylvester Stallone the artist used as models for his fists raised high statue. I also studied the timeline of the life of the statue. I had not realized how many times it has moved. 

There was also a picture taken in the Spring of 2020 of people lying down on the steps of the art museum, all wearing masks, likely looking for something to do since much of the world was still closed.

I did not take notes as I walked through the museum. I should have written sooner, or at least jotted notes in my book when they were still fresh, but the week has been busy.

Inside the museum is the Rocky Statue.

Which is why I was surprised when outside the museum, halfway up the stairs, is the Rocky Statue. 

The timeline said there was a time when there were multiple copies at the art museum. This is another one of those times.

Across the Great Stair Hall is their collection of European Art. This is my comfort zone of art. Our time was limited as we were meeting Kevin for dinner, a rare treat to have him to ourselves. Even without visiting Kevin, I reached my art attention span for the day. The museum is close enough we can visit again.