The artist receives $ 450,000 from the museum and presents a blank painting

4 hours ago

Attribution, Reuters

Photo caption,

The money was called ‘take the money and run away’

A Danish museum wants to recreate 534,000 crowns (BRL 450,000) taken in cash by an artist using banknotes. Despite the commission, he produced blank canvases entitled “Take Money and Run”.

Danish artist Jens Hanning received the commission from the Kunston Museum. He was invited to recreate two of his works, which represent annual salaries in Denmark and Austria.

After the artist pocketed the money and created the blank canvases, the museum’s response so far has been mixed.

“He messed up my curation team and he messed up a little bit with me, but I had to laugh because it’s so much fun,” Lacy Anderson, director of the Museum in Alberg, told BBC News.

However, Anderson made it clear that the money would be refunded when the show ended.

“This is museum money and we have an agreement that the money will be refunded on January 16th,” he said.

But Hanning, 56, has promised to keep the money. “The masterpiece is that I took their money,” he told the dr.dk website.

“I encourage other people with horrible work conditions like me to do the same,” he said. According to the artist, the reconstruction of his previous works will cost him 25 thousand trophies (R $ 21 thousand).

In an interview with the BBC, Anderson denied Hanning’s claim that the museum was not paying him enough.

“We have signed a contract with the Danish Artists Association, which increases the value that artists get when they exhibit,” he said. “I think Jens broke the contract.”