CNN –
Jens Haaning was supposed to create works of art with the 530,000 Danish crowns ($76,000) a museum loaned him, but instead he took the money and ran in the name of art. Now, after nearly two years of litigation, a Copenhagen court ruled on Monday that the artist must return almost all of the money.
In 2021, the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, in Denmark’s Jutland region, loaned Haaning the money to create updated versions of two previous works – frames filled with banknotes depicting the average annual salaries of an Austrian and a Dane – for an exhibition on the topic create future of work. Instead, the artist sent the museum two empty frames titled “Take the Money and Run,” saying he had created new, “better” pieces that fit the exhibition’s theme.
The conceptual artist said the piece was a commentary on low wages and that his breach of contract was part of the work.
Jens Ziehe/Courtesy Sabsay Gallery
The new pieces were intended to be updated versions of artworks, including “An Average Austrian Year Income, 2007,” pictured here.
He told CNN at the time: “From my artistic perspective, I saw that I could create a much better piece for them than they could have imagined.” He added: “I don’t see that I stole money… I did created a work of art that is perhaps ten or a hundred times better than what we had planned. “What’s the problem?”
Haaning said the new artwork invites people to think about social structures and institutions such as religion and marriage. “And if necessary…take the money and run,” he added.
Despite his protests, the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art displayed Haaning’s blank canvases along with a printout of an email explaining his actions.
Haaning’s blank canvases are part of a genre of controversial works that question the value of art itself – including Maurizio Cattelan sticking a banana to a wall and Banksy ripping up a painting at auction. In 1958, conceptual artist Yves Klein exposed an empty room to thousands of people. But regardless of the intent of his pieces, the Copenhagen City Court ruled against Haaning, saying he was “obliged” to return the money he borrowed, minus 40,000 kronor ($5,730) in artist and exhibition fees.
The court found that “Take the Money and Run” was “defective” compared to what was set out in his contract with the Kunsten Museum because he had agreed to deliver two different pieces. The ruling also dismissed a counterclaim from Haaning, who claimed the museum had infringed the work’s copyright. The artist has since been ordered to pay the costs associated with the legal proceedings.
In a statement emailed to CNN after Monday’s decision, Kunsten director Lasse Andersson said the museum would wait to see whether Haaning had appealed the decision before commenting. The artist did not respond to a request for comment.
The museum featured Haaning’s new artwork as part of its “Work it Out” exhibition, which ran from September 2021 to January 2022.
At the time, Andersson told CNN that work raised key questions: “Do we have to work for money, or can we just take it?” he asked. “Why do we go to work? All these things make us think about the cultural habits of the society we belong to. And then the question also applies: Are artists paid enough for what they do?”
John Peter Photography/Alamy
Kunsten Museum of modern art in Aalborg, Denmark.
Andersson also said the museum has held up its end of the agreement and is known for honoring contracts and paying artists fair fees.
Haaning, meanwhile, argued that the 10,000 crowns ($1,571) the museum paid for his work and to cover costs such as framing and delivery cost him out of pocket due to studio costs and staff salaries.