Philadelphia, Kansas City Museums Place Bets With Art Pieces In Super Bowl Wager
It’s that time of the year again—yes, the Super Bowl—and to join in on the action, the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City have decided to create a special wager on the outcome of the game.
Instead of money, art pieces are on the line as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles battle each other on the pitch. As part of this bet, the losing team will temporarily loan one piece from its permanent collection of artworks to the winner’s museum.
According to Hyperallergic, the art institutions have yet to announce exactly which pieces of art they’re putting on the table. Sasha Suda, Director of the PMA, simply said that when the Eagles clinch the grand prize, the museum will treat Nelson-Atkins to “unforgettable cheesesteaks.”
Sibling rivalry is alive and well in Super Bowl LVII. Good thing we have Jason Kelce on our side to show his little brother how it's done! #Eagles #Chiefs #MuseumBowl23
— Philadelphia Museum of Art (@philamuseum) February 8, 2023
"Football Players," 1942, by Alfred Bendiner © The Bendiner Foundation. pic.twitter.com/XOLKtzE7OV
“They have such a remarkable collection, and we will be thrilled to share a piece of it with our visitors, in a very special Point After Touchdown (PAT). We’ll make it feel right at home in our galleries and display it with Philly pride,” she said.
“Philadelphia’s museum has so many amazing works, and they will see how wonderful the PMA loan will appear in our beautiful galleries. We won’t let them leave, of course, before they can taste the best of our Kansas City barbeque,” challenged opposition Julián Zugazagoitia.
The tradition of museums waging art loans over the Super Bowl began over a decade ago, when writer Tyler Green came up with the idea. Indianapolis’ Museum of Art loaned the New Orleans Museum of Art JMW Turner’s 19th-century The Fifth Plague of Egypt (1800) in the initial bet.
We have our eye on you #KCWolf! We'll be cheering on the #Eagles with Swoop this weekend. #MuseumBowl23 #Eagles #Chiefs
— Philadelphia Museum of Art (@philamuseum) February 7, 2023
"Bless Our House and Eagle," 1962 (negative); around 1970 (print), by Jerry N. Uelsmann pic.twitter.com/uY0gtOrNRL
[via Hyperallergic and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, cover image via F11photo | Dreamstime.com]
