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CINCINNATI— The Cincinnati Art Museum is making the showdown between the Bengals and Rams on Sunday even more exciting for art lovers with a friendly wager which creates a chance to put two beautiful artworks together in 2022, the year of the Tiger.

The Cincinnati Art Museum and the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, a collections-based research and educational institution in Greater Los Angeles, are betting a loan of a painting from their respective permanent collections.

The winning football team’s museum will receive a temporary loan of an artwork by American painter and teacher Robert Henri. Henri (pronounced Hen-rye) was born in 1865 in Cincinnati, the son of a professional gambler and real estate developer.

The two wagered works both capture Henri’s straightforward approach to unconventional realist subjects executed in a bold, painterly style. Cincinnati’s Patience Serious from 1915 is a portrait of a young girl wearing Rams blue, while The Huntington’s Irish Girl, 1927, is wearing warmer colors, as if to honor the Bengals.

This follows a tradition of art museums wagering artwork loans during the Football Event of the Year, going back to 2010.

“Patience Serious has been waiting a long time to see her friend. After the Bengals take care of business on the football field on Sunday, she’s invited to Cincinnati for a play Dey,” jabbed Cameron Kitchin, Cincinnati Art Museum’s Louis and Louise Dieterle Nippert Director.

Left: Robert Henri (American, 1865–1929), Patience Serious, 1915, oil on canvas, Cincinnati Art Museum, Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Walter J. Wichgar, 1978.332. Learn more about this work in this CAM Look video.

Right: Robert Henri (American, 1865–1929), Irish Girl, 1927, oil on canvas, Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, Gift of the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation, 2019.13

About the Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to ArtsWave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as our members.

Free general admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is made possible by a gift from the Rosenthal Family Foundation. Special exhibition pricing may vary. Parking at the Cincinnati Art Museum is free. cincinnatiartmusem.org

About The Huntington

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens is a cultural and educational institution of global significance. Building on Henry E. and Arabella Huntington’s renowned collections, The Huntington supports research and promotes education in the arts, humanities, and botanical science through the growth and preservation of its collections; the development of a community of scholars, school programs, and partnerships; and the display and interpretation of its extraordinary resources for diverse audiences. The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California, 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Visitor information: huntington.org.

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