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A Danish artist who received substantial loans from a museum and presented empty frames as his artwork has been instructed by a court to return the money

Jens Haaning, a conceptual artist known for his exploration of power and inequality, was commissioned by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, northern Denmark, in 2021. His task was to recreate two previous works that symbolized average incomes by using numerous banknotes.

In 2007, Jens Haaning created a piece titled An Average Danish Annual Income, which featured Danish krone notes affixed to a canvas within a frame. He also produced another work in 2011 centered on Austrian incomes, using euro bills.

The Museum allocated approximately 532,000 kroner (equivalent to £61,500) from its reserves to recreate the artworks, in addition to an artist's fee of around 40,000 kroner. However, upon unpacking the recently received artworks, museum staff discovered two empty frames bearing the title Take the Money and Run.

After the Museum exhibited the new artworks and Jens Haaning refused to refund the money he had been lent, the Museum resorted to legal action.

On Monday, a court in Copenhagen ruled that the artist must reimburse the loaned funds while stipulating that he should still receive his fee.

At the time, Lasse Andersson, the director of the Kunsten Museum, said as quoted by The Guardian, “We are not a wealthy museum. … We have to think carefully about how we spend our funds, and we don’t spend more than we can afford.”

At the time, Haaning said as quoted by Haaning, “The work is that I have taken their money. It’s not theft. It is breach of contract, and breach of contract is part of the work.”

He added, “I encourage other people who have working conditions as miserable as mine to do the same. If they’re sitting in some shitty job and not getting paid, and are actually being asked to pay money to go to work, then grab what you can and beat it.”