Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing

​Who could "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee"? Muhammad Ali was The Greatest — he even said so himself. Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a three-time heavyweight champion and an outspoken, popular, and often controversial public figure. In the early 1960s, Ali found friendship with renowned artist LeRoy Neiman, with whom he shared an affinity for boxing, the limelight, and breaking with convention. Neiman even taught and encouraged Ali to draw. Using works on loan from the LeRoy Neiman Foundation, Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing celebrates one of America's greatest boxers and one of the most popular artists of the sport. Neiman’s vivid watercolors and intimate, on-the-spot sketches capture Ali both in and outside the ring. Highlights include portraits, sketches of Ali's critical matches such as the "Fight of the Century" and the "Thrilla in Manila," and some works created by Ali himself.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.