The Milwaukee Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in St Petersburg, Florida, have added an artistic stake to the 2026 World Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. Under their friendly wager, the museum supporting the losing team will lend a Claude Monet painting to its counterpart in the winning city.
With Milwaukee leading 2–0 before Game 3, the Brewers needed two further victories to secure the championship. Either team would be claiming its first World Series title. A Milwaukee victory would bring St Petersburg’s Houses of Parliament: Effect of Fog, London, painted in 1904, to the city. It depicts Westminster beneath a grey sky, with two silhouetted boats on the Thames.
Should the Rays mount a successful comeback, St Petersburg will instead exhibit Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect, dated 1903, the Milwaukee museum’s sole Monet. Its sunlit river contrasts with dark factory smoke in the background. Both paintings remain on display at their respective museums; arrangements for the temporary loan will be announced after the series concludes.
Regardless of the outcome, the wager will reunite two works from Monet’s London series. Comprising more than 100 canvases and 20 pastels depicting the Thames, it is his second-largest series after Water Lilies. Repeatedly revisiting the same views allowed him to explore subtle variations in weather and light.
During visits in the late 1890s and early 1900s, Monet painted Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges from his balcony at the Savoy Hotel. His afternoon views of the Houses of Parliament were painted from St Thomas’ Hospital.
