Ron Rivlin, June 13, 2016
Andy Warhol was far from the only artist to depict Muhammad Ali in his art, though the celebrated boxer himself would later say that the Pop artist’s piece was “by far the best painting I have ever had of myself.” The work, he felt, successfully conveyed his “many moods.” The iconic portrait was one of a series of paintings of athletes commissioned by Richard Weisman, a passionate sports enthusiast and art collector. The collaboration between Warhol and Ali stands as one of the most memorable intersections of Pop Art and sports culture.
In preparation for these prints, Warhol traveled to Deer Lake Pennsylvania where the boxer was training for a match with Ernie Shavers. It was at this remote training camp that Warhol and Ali first met, and where the artist took the Polaroid photographs that would eventually become the basis for the finished portrait.
At first, Warhol seemed unafraid of the larger-than-life boxer. After Ali teased him about the high price his portrait would command, Warhol simply asked “Could we, uh, do some, uh, pictures where you’re not, uh, talking?” According to Brockis “Nobody had ever told the champ to shut his famous mouth in quite such a not-to-be-trifled with way.”
Still, by the end of the shoot Ali managed to shake Warhol’s cool. When the artist was finished taking photos and reached to shake the boxer’s hand, he mumbled, “Thanks er, champ.” The boxer spun around and furiously demanded, “Did you say tramp?”—only to burst out laughing. Warhol, momentarily panicked, didn’t see the punchline coming.
