Peanut butter floor returns to Dutch museum as tribute to late artist

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — More than 800 pounds of peanut butter — enough for around 15,000 peanut butter sandwiches — have been spread across the floor of a museum in the Netherlands in tribute to Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers, who died last month.

The conceptual artist, who died at the age of 83, first created the Pindakaasvloer, or peanut butter floor, in 1969. The work will reopen to the public Friday at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam for a two-month show.

Schippers also voiced Ernie and Kermit the Frog in the Dutch version of “Sesame Street,” and created absurdist and silly works that challenged conventional ideas about the meaning of art.

“Isn’t it fantastic that we are all standing here looking at peanut butter?” Schippers told journalists gathered at the Central Museum in Utrecht in 1997 where Pindakaasvloer was on display for the second time.

Schippers created the work as part of a Floor Covering Series, which also included floors covered with glass shards and salt.

“The thing I remember is the smell,” Mieke Weismann told The Associated Press. The food photographer and writer saw the 1997 exhibition as a teenager. She said the pungent scent of peanut butter wafted throughout the museum.

It took two employees of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen several days to spread 40 buckets of peanut butter across a 25-square-meter (270-square-foot) hexagon last week.

The men used drywall trowels to smear the peanut butter to a thickness of 2 centimeters (0.8 inch).

Schippers did not specify the size, shape, thickness, or type of peanut butter the work needs. Dutch peanut butter brand Calvé donated tubs of smooth peanut butter for the work.

Multiple visitors stepped into the sticky artwork when it was on display in 2011. In 1997, the work was “vandalized” when a group of people placed 12 slices of bread and several bags of hagelslag — chocolate sprinkles commonly eaten on bread at breakfast in the Netherlands — on the floor.

“It doesn’t look bad,” Schippers told Dutch newspaper Volkskrant at the time. “The sprinkles have been applied with a sense of proportion and a skillful hand.”

Workers spread peanut butter on a floor to recreate the "Peanut Butter Floor" artwork in tribute to Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mouneb Taim)

Workers spread peanut butter on a floor to recreate the "Peanut Butter Floor" artwork in tribute to Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mouneb Taim)

Workers spread peanut butter on a floor to recreate the "Peanut Butter Floor" artwork in tribute to Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mouneb Taim)

Workers spread peanut butter on a floor to recreate the "Peanut Butter Floor" artwork in tribute to Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mouneb Taim)

Workers spread peanut butter on a floor to recreate the "Peanut Butter Floor" artwork in tribute to Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mouneb Taim)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts singled in the go-ahead run with two strikes in the eighth inning, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night in the series finale.

Betts ended the nine-pitch at-bat with his hit to center off Rockies reliever Antonio Senzatela (8-1) that scored Tommy Edman, who singled and moved to third on Freddie Freeman's double.

The Dodgers took two of three to prevent Colorado from winning its first series at Dodger Stadium since August 2021.

The Rockies loaded the bases against reliever Alex Vesia in the eighth, but Edgardo Henriquez (4-0) came in and got Kyle Karros to fly out for the third out.

Tanner Scott retired the side in the ninth to earn his 13th save.

Colorado’s Gabriel Hughes had a rough first inning in his first major league start. The 24-year-old right-hander gave up three runs, with Tommy Edman singling and scoring on Hughes’ wild pitch and a two-run RBI single by Kyle Tucker.

Hughes then settled down and retired 15 consecutive batters before Max Muncy’s double in the sixth. The Alaska native retired Shohei Ohtani three times, including a strikeout. Ohtani struck out a second time in the eighth on his bobblehead night after homering in the first two games of the series.

The Rockies answered with three runs to tie it at 3.

Karros and Edouard Julien hit solo shots off Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki in the second. Brett Sullivan walked, took second on Sasaki’s wild pitch, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Mickey Moniak’s sacrifice fly in the third.

Sasaki gave up three runs and four hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Rockies: RHP Ryan Feltner (3-2, 4.27 ERA) starts Thursday against San Francisco LHP Robbie Ray (8-6, 3.45).

Dodgers: After an off day for Los Angeles, Ohtani (8-2, 1.79) starts Friday against Arizona in the series opener.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Colorado Rockies right fielder Troy Johnston can't handle a ball hit for a single by Los Angeles Dodgers' Tommy Edman during the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts, right, hits an RBI single as Colorado Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela, left, reacts during the eighth inning of a baseball Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Gabriel Hughes throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Colorado Rockies' Edouard Julien, right, heads to second for a solo home run as Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman stands by during the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Colorado Rockies' Kyle Karros, right, hits a solo home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo watches during the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)