Ali painted canvas

Rome 1960, a medal and a teenager

At the Rome Olympics in September 1960, an 18 year old American won the light heavyweight title. He was still called Cassius Clay and had just finished high school in Louisville. Team-mates said he never took the medal off: in the village, on the plane, in the street, he wore it round his neck.

That title opened the door to the professional ranks two months later and brought him the contract with the group of Louisville investors who funded his start. Thirty-six years later, in Atlanta, the International Olympic Committee gave him a replacement medal; the original had gone missing.

What you see

Portrait format. The boxer is painted from the knees up, mouth open, arms folded low across his body, red gloves, white trunks with a wide black waistband carrying the Everlast mark. The muscles are built from cold colour — blue, purple, turquoise — rather than from flesh tones.

The ground is painted deep blue on the left and green on the right, with magenta spatter around the torso. Two dark horizontal bands stand for the ring ropes. From 3 m / 10 ft you read a pale figure on a cold ground; from 1 m / 3 ft you see that the skin itself is blue.

Technical specifications

Twelve sizes, from a desk to a wall span

This is the fullest range in the Ali family: twelve dimensions, from 13 × 18 cm / 5 × 7 in on a shelf to 110 × 160 cm / 43 × 63 in holding a span on its own. The ring ropes and the lettering on the waistband become legible from 50 × 70 cm / 20 × 28 in. The size chart by wall type covers the other placements room by room.

You may also like

• Muhammad Ali blue canvas — a bust in flat electric blue, if you want a tighter crop in the same palette.
• Ali watercolour canvas — a watercolour figure on white, if you want a light piece to balance the room.
• Muhammad Ali portrait canvas — a montage in red and ochre, if your room calls for warm tones.

Frequently asked questions