Jens Haaning, a Danish artist, fined by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art when he returned blank canvases to the museum.

A Danish artist was told by a museum that he must return about $112,000 in blank canvases.

The Kunsten Museum in Aalborg donated the money to artist Jens Haaning because they thought he would use it to make a statement about wages in Denmark and Austria by embedding banknotes in two glass frames.

Instead of filling in the frames, he returned them blank and retitled them “Take the Money and Run.”

The verdict was in line with what Haaning expected, he said in an interview on Tuesday, and he has not repaid the money since, he said, holding the money is the art.

He even went as far as saying, “I have taken the money,” which is a pretty bold statement. The idea is symbolized by the two blank frames. For this reason, my having taken the money is more significant than its absence.

He admitted that he had failed in his initial assignment.

Protracted litigation ensued, with a Copenhagen court ultimately ordering the 58-year-old to refund 492,549 kroner ($109,641.05) out of the total 534,000 kroner the museum sent in 2021.

After deducting the artist’s fee and canvas costs, the court determined the amount of the refund to be.

When asked about the paintings in an interview with the BBC, museum director Lasse Andersson recalled laughing at first glance but ultimately deciding to display the artwork.

Art Gallery’s December 2021 social media promotion of artwork is a recognition that “despite intentions to the contrary, artworks are part of a capitalist system that values a work based on arbitrary conditions.”

Image Courtesy: Instagram