The artist commissioned to create a sculpture of Joe Frazier, a legendary heavyweight boxer from Philadelphia, died suddenly of natural causes before the artwork could be completed.
Lawrence Nowlan, a 48-year-old Philadelphia native, had just finished molding Frazier's face days before his death last Tuesday. Richard Hayden, the man in charge of Frazier's estate reacted to Nowlan's death with extreme sadness.
"Horrible, horrible, horrible," Hayden said. "We had just spoken last week and we were getting ready to go to the Art Commission [with his final plans for approval]." As a Philly native, Nowlan considered this assignment a dream job, according to Hayden. "The Frazier family found him very engaging. Not only was he interested in the piece itself, but he was clearly a Philadelphia sports fan. Everybody who heard him make his pitch came away with that impression. He saw this as an important part of his life's work."
Nowlan had proposed capturing the moment when Frazier knocked down Muhammad Ali in "The Fight of the Century", considered by many to be the greatest fighter in the history of boxing.
"I didn't want a posed picture, like you'd see on a baseball card. I didn't feel that'd be appropriate for me, or anybody, to make up a pose," he explained. "We have all these great fights to watch, and I'd seen them a million times, but that great image from the first Ali fight, when Ali's about a foot off the canvas, Joe's right hand is cocked back, he's on his toes, looking. That's the Joe Frazier I know and loved, the one who came out of the corner like a pitbull. That image encapsulates his power."
Erica Atwood, in charge of the entire project, doesn't envision Nowlan's staff being able to continue working on the project without him.
"The options we're exploring are seeing how far along in the process Larry was, to see if we can continue with his staff. We are fairly confident that's not a viable option, so the alternate plan is to engage one of the other artists that submitted in the original request."
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