Seattle, Denver art museums bet artwork on Super Bowl

From Thomas Hendrick of FOX 31/Denver 

DENVER — The flurry of public officials and agencies betting on the Broncos/Seahawks Super Bowl game now includes the Denver Art Museum.

The museum entered a wager with its counterpart in Seattle to trade artwork based off the winner of Super Bowl XLVIII.

Denver is promising to send Seattle a bronze statue of a cowboy and his bucking bronco called “The Bronco Buster.”

If Denver wins, Seattle will send a Native American mast reminiscent of the Seahawk from the Seattle Art Museum Northwest Coast Native American art collection.

“I’m confident that we will be enjoying Remington’s The Broncho Buster at SAM. We are already making plans to host it here in Seattle so that the 12th Man can see it,” said Kimerly Rorschach, SAM’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO.

“We know the Broncos won’t be busted on Super Bowl Sunday,” Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director said. “I am looking forward to giving the losing team’s mascot a special place of honor in Bronco Nation.”

More about the artwork:

Seattle’s Wager:
Forehead Mask – Nuxalk First Nation ca. 1880
This Nuxalk mask shows the elegant elongation of the bird beak, a sensitive and human-like rendering of the eye/socket/brow area, with painted embellishments on the surface in black, red and blue. The open mouth suggests the ferocity of this bird of prey, possible a supernatural “man-eater.” Shredded red cedar bark symbolizes the mythical arena in which the dance-dramas would be enacted.

Denver’s Wager:
The Broncho Buster – Frederic Remington
In 1895, Frederic Remington first endeavored to sculpt and the resulting work is one of the most enduring visual images of the American West. The bronze horse symbolizes the spirit and tenacity of the Wild West. Popular from the time of its creation, The Broncho Buster stands today as an icon of the region and is thought of as the first action bronze of a western hero.