As the 2016 World Series builds to its Game 7 climax tonight, the cities of Chicago and Cleveland are deadlocked in a bit of friendly, Midwestern rivalry. That competitiveness has even spilled over into the fine art world. The Art Institute Of Chicago is showing its hometown pride with some Photoshopped images of classic paintings, retconning Cubs fandom throughout art history. For example, here’s the Institute’s baseball-themed take on Édouard Manet’s classic Woman Reading from 1879-80:
And here is an updated version of William Sidney Mount’s Barroom Scene (1835), in which the revelers seem to be celebrating the Cubs’ victory in Game 6 in a surprisingly uncrowded tavern, presumably far from Wrigleyville.
Not to be outdone, the Cleveland Museum Of Art has responded in kind with some Photoshopped artwork of its own. In this image, George Washington wears a Cleveland-insider meme on his sash:
But arguably the best picture to emerge from this inter-museum art war is this riff on Thomas Lawrence’s Portrait Of Catherine Grey, Lady Manners (1794), who is standing with ladylike manners in a perfect batting stance.
You can see many more on the respective Facebook pages for the Cleveland and Chicago-based art museums, but look quickly: Each museum has pledged to burn its entire art collection in penance if their team loses.