Norman Rockwell's Cubs painting, "The Dugout," now hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago

The only painting famed American artist Norman Rockwell ever did of the Chicago Cubs is now hanging at the Art Institute.

Chicago's most renowned art museum announced that Former Governor Bruce Rauner and his wife Diana gifted the painting, which will now be on public view.

"The Dugout" features the 1948 Chicago Cubs after they lost a double header to the then-Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves). The players' dejected expressions are in stark contrast to the elated fans in the stands behind them.

"This is actually the first Norman Rockwell to enter the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and it's also the first painting about the Chicago Cubs," said Sarah Kelly Oehler, curator of the Arts of the Americas department.

Rockwell painted using photographs of the scene for reference. It is the first and only Rockwell painting in the Art Institute's collection. It is also the only work in the museum's collection that features the Chicago Cubs.

"Twenty years ago, when I bought this painting, it was an opportunity to both celebrate the Cubs but also Norman Rockwell. He was one of I think the greatest, most American of American painters," Bruce Rauner said.

The couple wrestled with the idea of parting with the painting.

"It's really exciting to see it here. It really belongs here, and as much as we were used to seeing it at home, this is really a better home for it," said Diana Rauner.

Rauner will celebrate his 70th birthday next week. He said this was the perfect time to give a gift, as the Cubs turn 150 and the United States turns 250.

Rockwell is one of the most famed American artists of the 20th Century, and was widely known thanks to the numerous covers he illustrated and painted for the Saturday Evening Post. "The Dugout" was one of those cover commissions and ran on Sept. 4, 1948, when the Cubs finished last in the league.

The Art Institute's collection already includes some of the U.S.'s most famed paintings, including "American Gothic" by Grant Wood and "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper.

Norman Rockwell was born in New York City on Feb. 3, 1894, and became famous for his depictions of idealized American life, including his series "The Four Freedoms," inspired by a 1943 address to Congress by President Franklin Roosevelt.

In the 1960s, after his relationship with the Saturday Morning Post ended and he began working for Look magazine, his art began to address his concerns with and interest in civil rights, the war on poverty and the exploration of space, at times garnering controversy.

Rockwell died at his home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on Nov. 8, 1978 at the age of 84.