ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A World Series wager between St. Petersburg and Milwaukee museums had the winner saying, “Show me the Monet!”
In a fun bet, The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg is putting its Monet where its mouth is.
“This is a wonderful work of art by Claude Monet from 1904,” said Klaudio Rodriguez, executive director & CEO of the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg of Monet’s “Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog).”
“It’s a treasure; I think there’s only maybe nine or 10 in the United States of this series to see,” said Rodriguez. “So it’s a really unique opportunity to get to see one of these.”
The treasure will be heading to Milwaukee after the museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum agreed to a friendly wager. The museum on the losing side of the World Series would loan its painting to the winning team’s hometown for a victory lap in their gallery.
Rodriguez says the Milwaukee museum director initiated the wager.
“I’ll give her full credit because I was not thinking Monet-size wager,” said Rodriguez. “And she said, ‘If we’re going to go, we’re going to go big,’ so she said, ‘How about my Monet for yours?’ And I said, ‘We got this, absolutely,’ and here we are.”
With the Rays season over, that means St. Pete’s Monet will be transported to Milwaukee for about three months.
The masterpiece will be put in its own crate and transferred by an MFA courier.
“The work is cared for, climatized, everything else that needs to happen to make sure it it’s safe,” said Rodriguez.
The masterpiece will be safe and ready to be admired by Milwaukee art lovers.
While Rodriquez was hoping to add a Monet to MFA’s gallery, he still see the loan as a fun way to celebrate the love of the Rays and the arts in St. Petersburg.
“Happy to share with them, and, you know, maybe next year we’ll get another one in return,” Rodriguez said.