The Seattle Art Museum and the Clark Art Institute in New England have placed a wager on the Super Bowl, each betting a major landscape painting from their collection on their respective home teams. Seattle Art Museum director Kimerly Rorschach has offered Albert Bierstadt's "Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast" (1870), while Clark Art Institute director Michael Conforti has put up Winslow Homer's "West Point, Prout's Neck" (1900). The losing museum will loan its painting to the winner for three months, covering all shipping and expenses.
This friendly bet highlights how museums can engage with popular culture and local pride to draw attention to their collections. The wager also underscores the cultural significance of these American landscape masterpieces, which represent distinct regional identities—the Pacific Northwest and the coast of Maine. The loan agreement, regardless of the game's outcome, will allow visitors at the winning institution to experience a major work from another part of the country, fostering cross-institutional appreciation.