The Philadelphia Museum of Art has an extra Manet in its gallery for the next few months — and they have the Eagles to thank for it. On Wednesday, The PMA received Édouard Manet’s “The Croquet Party (1871)” on loan from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, as part of a friendly Super Bowl 59 wager between the two institutions. “It feels good to win, always. But it also feels good to share our riches, our collection and our audience with our colleagues from the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City,” Philadelphia Museum of Art Director and CEO Sasha Suda said. “The Croquet Party” depicts Manet’s friends and family playing at a seaside resort in Boulogne, France. Both museums had ponied up paintings by the 19th century French modernist painter as the wager, with the loser sending theirs to the winner for a few months. Had Kansas City won the Super Bowl, the PMA would have sent “The Folkestone Boat, Boulogne” to Missouri. The two paintings hadn’t been at the same location since 1873. Now they share the same wall, along with two other naval-themed paintings Manet did while on the same vacation period in coastal France, in the Impressionists gallery, with works by Monet, Degas, Rodin and Gaugin. While the three PMA Manets are on the Blue Note-colored walls of the gallery, like the other works, the loaned painting was placed in front of a Kelly green panel with a not-so-subtle Eagles logo underneath it. Jennifer Thompson, a curator of European paintings at PMA, was tasked with choosing which two pieces should be wagered and said that the two museum’s strong Impressionists collections, particularly Manet (though he never defined himself as an Impressionist), made for an easy intersection. She described seeing the similarities in the juxtaposed scenes next to each other as a “phenomenal experience.” “We started to see some of the same people, even some of the same dresses and garments and hats appearing in both pictures, which is something I had never fully realized until the two pictures are seen side by side on our gallery walls,” Thompson said. Like many bets, there was some public shaming added to the wager. The losing city’s museum didn’t just agree to send their valuable piece of artwork: They had to send a delegation to hand-deliver it. Julián Zugazagoitia, director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins, didn’t see the trip as a punishment, though.
“The truth is that it is always a joy to share art with everyone, and bringing one of our masterpieces to Philadelphia to be among its sisterworks of art, that put all of this period of Manet in context, is joyful,” he said. Suda and Zugazagoitia said they were texting back-and-forth after every touchdown and big play during the Super Bowl. They actually started earlier in the NFL playoffs, when it looked more and more likely that the rematch would happen. “When the Chiefs were playing the Bills, I was on the edge of my seat and rooting on the Chiefs, because of this friendly rivalry that we have,” Suda said. The Eagles were gracious in victory and sent mascot Swoop and a group of cheerleaders to offer a sporting handshake to Zugazagoitia, after Swoop was done sauntering around the priceless artworks and giving museum staff minor heart palpitations. Museums have placed similar bets on and off since 2010, according to the Art Newspaper . The PMA’s first Museum Bowl wager was in 2018, with the Museum of Fine Arts Boston . The Eagles’ first-ever Super Bowl title led to “Mrs. James Warren (Mercy Otis)” by John Singleton Copley being sent to Philly for about three months. Philly would have lent Benjamin West’s “Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky” if Nick Foles hadn’t pulled off the “Philly Special” and Brandon Graham didn’t strip-sack Tom Brady. When the Birds and Kansas City went head-to-head in 2019, the PMA had to pull Thomas Eakins’ “Sailing” out of storage and lug it to Missouri. Several other Philly offices and organizations made similar friendly wagers with their Kansas City counterparts, including the cities’ mayors, school systems and zoos. Even Pat’s went up against Joe’s Kansas City BBQ. Sportsbooks BetMGM and Caesars both reported that this Super Bowl was the most-bet single sporting event in each of their histories. But these two bettors sounded like there were no losers. “Last time around, it was in our favor. This time around, it benefits Philadelphia. So we’re happy that we’re 1-1 on this,” Zugazagoitia said. “We can’t wait for the next Super Bowl, and we hope both of our teams are there.” Zugazagoitia even has some artwork in mind to wager for the next Super Bowl — sections of the ceiling from a 15th century Zhihua temple in Beijing that both the PMA and the Nelson-Atkins have in their collections. “The Croquet Party” will be on view in Gallery 252 until Aug 17. Be sure to give a “Go Birds” after you’re done admiring the masterful brushstrokes.
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“The truth is that it is always a joy to share art with everyone, and bringing one of our masterpieces to Philadelphia to be among its sisterworks of art, that put all of this period of Manet in context, is joyful,” he said. Suda and Zugazagoitia said they were texting back-and-forth after every touchdown and big play during the Super Bowl. They actually started earlier in the NFL playoffs, when it looked more and more likely that the rematch would happen. “When the Chiefs were playing the Bills, I was on the edge of my seat and rooting on the Chiefs, because of this friendly rivalry that we have,” Suda said. The Eagles were gracious in victory and sent mascot Swoop and a group of cheerleaders to offer a sporting handshake to Zugazagoitia, after Swoop was done sauntering around the priceless artworks and giving museum staff minor heart palpitations. Museums have placed similar bets on and off since 2010, according to the Art Newspaper . The PMA’s first Museum Bowl wager was in 2018, with the Museum of Fine Arts Boston . The Eagles’ first-ever Super Bowl title led to “Mrs. James Warren (Mercy Otis)” by John Singleton Copley being sent to Philly for about three months. Philly would have lent Benjamin West’s “Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky” if Nick Foles hadn’t pulled off the “Philly Special” and Brandon Graham didn’t strip-sack Tom Brady. When the Birds and Kansas City went head-to-head in 2019, the PMA had to pull Thomas Eakins’ “Sailing” out of storage and lug it to Missouri. Several other Philly offices and organizations made similar friendly wagers with their Kansas City counterparts, including the cities’ mayors, school systems and zoos. Even Pat’s went up against Joe’s Kansas City BBQ. Sportsbooks BetMGM and Caesars both reported that this Super Bowl was the most-bet single sporting event in each of their histories. But these two bettors sounded like there were no losers. “Last time around, it was in our favor. This time around, it benefits Philadelphia. So we’re happy that we’re 1-1 on this,” Zugazagoitia said. “We can’t wait for the next Super Bowl, and we hope both of our teams are there.” Zugazagoitia even has some artwork in mind to wager for the next Super Bowl — sections of the ceiling from a 15th century Zhihua temple in Beijing that both the PMA and the Nelson-Atkins have in their collections. “The Croquet Party” will be on view in Gallery 252 until Aug 17. Be sure to give a “Go Birds” after you’re done admiring the masterful brushstrokes.
