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  • Two major museums have pledged to swap Claude Monet paintings based on the winner of the 2026 World Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays.
  • The wager involves temporary loans of significant works from Monet’s London series, including depictions of Waterloo Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
  • This exchange follows a recent pattern of art institutions engaging in friendly championship bets, such as previous swaps involving Thomas Eakins and Édouard Manet paintings.

As the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays compete for the 2026 World Series title, the stakes extend beyond the Commissioner’s Trophy to include significant works of fine art. The Milwaukee Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg have formalized a friendly wager that ties the outcome of the baseball series to the temporary relocation of Claude Monet paintings from their respective collections.

Under the terms of the agreement, the museum located in the city of the losing team will send one of its Monet canvases to the winning institution. The artwork will remain on display at the victor’s gallery for a limited period, described by Milwaukee officials as a victory lap. This arrangement allows both institutions to showcase prestigious pieces they do not permanently own while celebrating local sports loyalty.

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Kim Sajet, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, expressed strong support for the Brewers, noting that backing the team with a beloved painting aligns with her enthusiasm for the franchise. She suggested that having two Monets on display simultaneously would create an impressive visual experience for visitors. Conversely, Klaudio Rodriguez, executive director and CEO of the St. Petersburg museum, countered with confidence in the Rays, inviting Milwaukee’s masterpiece to Florida should his team prevail.

The specific artworks at stake are drawn from Monet’s extensive London series, created around the turn of the 20th century. If the Brewers secure the championship, they will receive Houses of Parliament: Effect of Fog, London, painted in 1904 by the St. Petersburg museum. This piece depicts the Palace of Westminster with silhouetted boats on the River Thames under grey skies, representing one of more than a hundred canvases Monet produced of the river.

Should the Rays manage a comeback victory, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s only Monet, Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect, dated to 1903, will travel to Florida. This painting captures the Thames reflecting sunlight with industrial smoke plumes in the background, illustrating Monet’s interest in varying atmospheric conditions. Both works are currently on view at their home institutions, and the details of the loan will be finalized after the series concludes.

Monet’s London series holds particular significance because the artist insisted on keeping the group cohesive during creation. He wrote to his dealer in 1903 that he could not send individual canvases away, preferring to develop them together to capture subtle shifts in light and weather. Although these paintings are now dispersed across global collections, this wager temporarily reunites two pieces from the same thematic set.

The practice of art museums engaging in friendly sports betting has gained traction in recent years. In 2023, the Philadelphia Museum of Art sent a Thomas Eakins painting to Kansas City after the Chiefs defeated the Eagles in the Super Bowl. When the Eagles won the rematch in 2025, Kansas City reciprocated by sending an Édouard Manet painting to Philadelphia. Similarly, Milwaukee previously received a Pierre-Auguste Renoir from Pittsburgh in 2011 following a Packers victory.

Monet’s fascination with London began in earnest during trips in the late 1890s and early 1900s, though he first crossed the English Channel in 1870 to avoid conscription. He painted views of bridges and Parliament from hotel balconies and hospital windows, experimenting with fog and sunlight. The upcoming exchange highlights how cultural institutions are leveraging their collections to engage with community events, blending high art with popular sports culture in a nonpartisan manner.

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Go to the original reporting

  • Smithsonian Magazine↗Art Museums in Milwaukee and Tampa Bay Are Betting That Their Hometown Baseball Teams Will Win the World Series. The Wager? Monet Paintings