Artist who Submitted Empty Frames In Lieu of Commissioned Work Plans to Appeal Museum Lawsuit

Danish artist Jens Haaning is appealing a court ruling to return money he was given to recreate an artwork at Kunsten Museum in Aalborg, Denmark, the Huffington Post reported on Wednesday.

The museum loaned the artist 532,549 krone (approximately $49,749) and paid him an artist fee of 40,000 krone (about $3,738) to recreate the piece An Average Danish Annual Income (2007), consisting of krone on canvas in a frame, as part of an exhibition on labor conditions, titled “Work it Out” (2021–22). Instead, Haaning submitted two empty canvases titled Take the Money and Run (2021).

In an earlier ruling on September 18, the District Court of Copenhagen decided that Haaning would keep the artist fee because the museum mounted the work for the show.

Last week, a Danish court ruled that Haaning had to repay 492,549 krone ($46,012) to Kunsten Museum for violating his contract. The agreement stipulated that the money used in the piece was to be returned to the museum shortly after the exhibition’s close. The museum subsequently sued. According to Haaning’s lawyer Peter Schønning, the artist is planning to appeal the ruling.