Actor Sylvester Stallone is best remembered for a character that gets the pulp beaten out of him, though his image as a tough hasn’t lessened his appreciation for one of the finer things in life, painting.

The actor, who studied art and has painting since he was eight years old, has kept nurturing his more sensitive side while become an action star in movies such as Rocky and the Rambo series.

Now Stallone, who says he likes to paint in his pajamas or in the nude, is getting attention from art critics as he shows off some of his decades of work at a retrospective in Nice, France.

Sylvester Stallone is best known for his movies, though he has been painting since before his most famous roles. Above, he stands with On Finding Rocky, which he created while writing the movie Rocky

Stallone (pictured with Nice mayor Christian Estrosi, left) is having a retrospective of his art in France

A gallery director who has worked with the popular 1980s actor said the show ‘avoided like the devil anything that would make this a Hollywood thing’, but Stallone’s art mixes the personal and movie-related themes

He has previously exhibited in St Moritz, Switzerland, and the Russian Museum in St Petersburg, Russia before his recent display at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

However, the new show, less than an hour from where the the Cannes Film Festival was recently held, sees a push for the Expendables star to be taken seriously as an artist.

‘We avoided like the devil anything that would make this a Hollywood thing,’ gallery director Mathias Rastorfer told The Telegraph.

Stallone’s acting career isn’t far from his work, however, in the exhibition ‘Real Love’, which opened earlier this month and ends this weekend.

One of the most talked about pieces in the exhibit that includes works from as recently as 2015 is On Finding Rocky, a 1975 painting of the boxer that Stallone made while writing and starring in the movie of the same name.

Stallone said that he wanted to see what his Rocky Balboa character would look like before giving him lines or sending him up staircases in Philadelphia.

‘If he looked interesting visually, then I think that he would translate through to literature and then cinema. I know it sounds ambitious but that was the genesis of Rocky,’ he said.

He also finds a source in creative energy from one of his most popular, though less elegant, characters.

‘Don’t take this sarcastically, but I am trying to prove John Rambo’s subconsciousness,’ Stallone said.

‘It’s like being lost in a haunted forest, so that’s always a source of cinematic inspiration.’

Stallone has been painting since he was eight years old, and his retrospective spans from 1975 to this year

Stallone says that he is ‘trying to prove John Rambo’s subconsciousness’ and that his paintings are inspired by his time as an actor. Above, a woman examines his work during the opening of the ‘Real Love’ exhibition

The First Blood actor has sold his art for up to $120,000, and pals Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Travolta have bought pieces

Stallone’s artwork, of which there are more than 300 pieces, has sold for up to $120,000

Beyond tapping into the inner workings of the muscle-clad machos he brought to life, Stallone told the Hollywood Reporter that his art also reflects on the turns his time in Hollywood has taken.

‘Toward the end of a celebrity’s career and fame, it becomes somewhat sad because you still feel vital but the opportunities tend to be minimalized,’ he said.

‘There is a career death that many of our most celebrated stars experience, which is a dark subject I used to explore’.

Friends Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Travolta both own pieces by the actor.

Stallone is also an avid art collector and owns pieces by Claude Monet and Francis Bacon.

Stallone said that one of the ‘dark subjects’ he used to explore in his art was the ‘career death that many of our most celebrated stars experience’

In addition to making art, Stallone also collects works from famous painters such as Claude Money and Francis Bacon. Above, two paintings in his ‘Real Love’ exhibition