The World Series of American professional baseball. In 2026, it is the Milwaukee Brewers against the Tampa Bay Rays. Art museums in both cities have put a Monet painting on the outcome.
The losing side lends its Monet
The wager is between the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg (MFA) in Florida. In this friendly bet, the museum in the losing team's city sends its Monet on loan to the winning team's city, for a victory lap in the galleries.
The Milwaukee Art Museum is backing the Brewers with Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect (around 1903). It is the only Monet in the museum's collection, and a favorite among visitors.
The MFA is backing the Rays with Houses of Parliament, Effect of Fog, London (1904). The gallery where it usually hangs is closed until November 21, but during the World Series it is on view upstairs, in support of the Rays.
As of October 25, the outcome is not yet known.
A painting becomes the talk of the town
What I find delightful about this story is that the name Monet is reaching baseball fans who do not usually go to museums. Both paintings belong to Monet's series of views of the Thames in London. Once the result is in, one painting will travel from city to city, to be seen by new people again.
The museums are joining in with the enjoyment plus pride of local people, and widening the way in to art. Through the play of a wager, I think a painting is drawing people's interest.
A painting in your company also starts conversations
A painting hung at a company reception or in an executive office does something similar. A client asks what the painting is. A member of staff stops in front of it. From there, a conversation begins about what the company values.
BUSINESS ART begins with listening to the business owner, then turns what the business stands for into one original painting. I paint it hoping it will become one of the things that connect the inside of a company with the outside.
Mermaid nao's BUSINESS ART is a one-of-a-kind original painting of what your business stands for. Each piece is delivered framed.
[References]
ARTnews: Prized Monet Paintings at the Center of Milwaukee Art Museum plus MFA St. Petersburg’s World Series Wager
MFA St. Petersburg: World Series press release
Milwaukee Magazine: The Milwaukee Art Museum Is Betting Monet on the Brewers
WUSF: This World Series wager is a real work of art
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