The White House Asked To Borrow A Van Gogh, Offered Gold Toilet Instead

Now that’s what we call a fine art burn.

According to multiple news outlets, The White House got a polite, but firm, “thanks-for-asking-but-no” email from the Guggenheim Museum after asking to borrow an 1888 Van Gogh painting for President and Melania Trump’s private living quarters. Instead, the Guggenheim’s chief curator, Nancy Spector, offered an alternative — an 18-carat toilet installation by artist Maurizio Cattelan. The toilet is fully functional, and was installed in the museum in 2016, at which point it was available for public use. The title of Cattelan’s work? “America.”