Hollywood film star Sylvester Stallone has shown the world a different side of him. The actor who is better known for his rough and tough action roles in numerous blockbusters like Rambo, has unveiled that he has always been an artist at heart.

A collection of abstract paintings by the US film star have gone on display at the museum of Russian art in St Petersburg.The retrospective includes 36 works which which Stallone has worked on for more than 30 years, from 1975-2013.

Stallone told reporters that it was an honour to show his works in the historic Russian capital, despite some critics denouncing the artist for his anti-Russia films and claiming his works had no place amongst Russian history.

Nonetheless the Oscar-nominated actor was all smiles at the opening to his exhibition, saying: “I hope you will like my pictures,” and “I love all of you.”

The 67-year-old told reporters at a press conference that he would much rather spend his life drawing than acting. “I think I’m a much better painter than an actor,” he said.

“It’s much more personal and I’m allowed to just do what I want to do. Quite often in acting you have to play a certain part, you cannot speak as much as you want to speak. I suppose the heroes don’t talk much, you have to be very stoic.”

Stallone studied art long before his career in film took off and has had previous art shows in Switzerland and Miami.

St Petersburg’ museum director Vladimir Gusev beleives Stallone’s paintings: “show the character of a passionate man” and were not simply “the work of an amateur”.

“This is a real artist,” he told reporters. “The Russian museum does not show weak artists.”

The exhibition, titled Sylvester Stallone. Art. 1975-2013, opened this week, attracting over 1,000 visitors on the first day. The artworks will be on display for the rest of the month.

Take a look at some of Stallone’s works in the gallery below and tell us what you think of the actor’s art in the comments section below:

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