The US president reportedly asked New York’s Guggenheim Museum if he could borrow a Van Gogh for the White House - but was offered a gold toilet instead. Used by 100,000 visitors, the golden lavatory is thought to be a metaphor for Trump’s America.
The White House apparently asked for the loan of Van Gogh’s 1888 Landscape With Snow, according to The Independent.
The Washington Post says the museum wrote back to say it could not lend the White House the painting, but was willing to offer an 18-karat gold sculpture by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan of a “functioning toilet” instead.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The exhibit, titled America, is seen as a “pointed satire on excessive wealth in the US”, says the BBC.
Museum curator Nancy Spector wrote about the piece in a blog last year, calling it “at once humorous and searing in its critique of our current realities”.
“Though crafted from millions of dollars’ worth of gold, the sculpture is actually a great leveller,” she said, adding that “Cattelan’s anticipation of Trump’s America will, perhaps, be the lasting imprint of the sculpture’s time at the Guggenheim”.
The cost of the artwork has not been revealed.
Asked to explain the meaning of the gold toilet offer, Spector reportedly said: “What’s the point of our life? Everything seems absurd until we die and then it makes sense.”
The White House has made no comment, but many have taken to Twitter to take a swipe at the sitting president.
Not everyone is so enamoured of the Guggenheim’s approach, however.
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplaceThe explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
The 5 best mob movies of all timeThe Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeezeTHE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
