He left with the cash register to get a publicity stunt. He was to exhibit for the equivalent of more than 70,000 euros of banknotes pasted on a canvas but had finally presented empty frames and kept the tidy sum: a court on Monday sentenced a Danish artist to reimburse the majority of the amount.
"The Court decided that the artist must pay the museum 492,549 crowns (66,000 euros), the sum due, less the artist's fee and the compensation related to the hanging," the Copenhagen court said in a statement.
In 2021, the "Kunsten" museum in Aalborg, western Denmark, agreed to lend Jens Haaning a large sum of cash so that he could reconstruct one of his old works representing a year's salary in Denmark and Austria, in Danish denominations and euros.
"Take the money and pull yourself out"
When the cash registers opened, employees noticed that the frames were empty, with the artwork renamed "Take the money and pull yourself out."
Cuando estoy triste pienso que cuando a Jens Haaning le encargaron hacer una obra de arte para el Kunsten Museum of Modern Art por 84000$ el tío entregó 2 lienzos en blanco y lo llamó "coge el dinero y corre" y se me pasa la tristeza pic.twitter.com/3Va2wVmMkC
— Luis Pastor (@Luis_pastor) February 5, 2023
The director of the museum, Lasse Andersson, had however decided to present both works as part of his exhibition on modern work. "They offer a humorous approach and lead us to think about how we value work," he said, assuring, however, that the museum would go to court if Haaning, 58, did not return the money.
For his work, Haaning had received 10,000 crowns (1,340 euros), to which is added an exhibition bonus. He was suing the state for infringement of his copyright. Interviewed by TV2 Nord television, the artist estimated that the museum had obtained "much, much more" than the money it invested, thanks in particular to the media coverage of the case.
