A Danish artist has been ordered by a court to repay funds after pocketing money lent to him by a museum and submitting empty frames as his artwork. The artist in question is Jens Haaning, a conceptual artist known for his exploration of power and inequality. In 2021, Haaning was commissioned by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark, to recreate two of his previous works that depicted average incomes using banknotes.
The first artwork, titled “An Average Danish Annual Income,” showcased krone notes fixed to canvas within a frame. The second work, created in 2011, focused on Austrian incomes and featured euro bills. The museum offered approximately 532,000 krone (£61,500) from its reserves as well as a fee of about 40,000 krone to support the recreation of these artworks.
However, upon the delivery of the newly recreated works, the museum staff discovered two empty frames titled “Take the Money and Run.” Despite the museum’s attempts to display these empty frames as artworks, Haaning refused to return the money lent to him, prompting legal action from the museum.
Following the court proceedings in Copenhagen, the artist was ordered to repay the loaned funds, but he would still be compensated for his fee. Lasse Andersson, the director of the Kunsten Museum, expressed the financial limitations of the institution and emphasized the importance of prudent spending.
In response to the controversy, Haaning defended his actions, stating that taking the museum’s money was part of his artistic concept. He described it as a breach of contract rather than theft and encouraged others in similar work situations to do the same, particularly those facing poor working conditions or instances where they are required to pay to work.
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