Danish artist ordered to return €67,000 to museum for submitting blank canvases

A Danish artist named Jens Haaning has been ordered to return almost 500,000 kroner (€67,000) to the Kunsten Museum in Aalborg. The artist had supplied the museum with two blank canvases for a project titled "Take the Money and Run." The museum had originally intended for Haaning to embed banknotes into the artworks in 2021. However, instead of completing the project as agreed, Haaning handed over blank canvases and stated, "The work is that I have taken their money." The art project was meant to convey a message about salaries in Denmark and Austria. The museum requested that Haaning return the entire amount of money it had given him, approximately 534,000 kroner (£61,000 / €71,635 / $76,539). However, Haaning refused to comply with the museum's demand. After a lengthy legal battle, a Copenhagen court ruled on Monday that Haaning must reimburse the museum 492,549 kroner. This amount was determined by subtracting the artist's fee and other related expenses from the sum the museum had originally provided. Lasse Andersson, the museum's director, shared his initial reaction upon seeing the blank canvases in 2021, stating that he laughed out loud and decided to exhibit the artworks nonetheless. He described the situation as "really humoristic" and acknowledged that it had stirred up his curatorial staff. Following the court's decision, Haaning stated that he did not plan to pursue the case any further. He mentioned that while the incident had been beneficial for his work, it had also placed him in an uncertain situation where he was unsure of what to do next. Moreover, Haaning asserted that the museum had earned "much, much more" money than it had invested due to the publicity generated by the controversy.