Commonwealth Policy Center

A Danish court ruled that the painter Jens Haaning must refund an art museum for turning in a blank canvas. The museum commissioned Haaning for about $76,000 for an art project, but in return, they received a blank canvas. The museum called it “a recognition that works of art, despite intentions to the contrary, are part of a capitalist system that values a work based on some arbitrary condition.” While Haaning believed that he was keeping up his end of the bargain, the joke is on those who embrace modern art which rejects objective truth and beauty. There’s an opportunity here. In this post modern world, Christian artists can step up to the blank canvas and bring beauty and order into our spaces—something that true art is meant to do.