You might be surprised to learn that a solid gold toilet/piece of art, entitled “America”, was stolen from a British palace this past weekend. There’s much about that sentence which is odd, to be sure. However, the most surprising thing of all may be that the artwork was previously offered to Trump’s White House (in lieu of a Van Gogh that had been requested), and that offer was declined.

The work in question

I missed it at the time, but long before this recent theft, there was a minor story in early 2018 about the spurned offer. The Washington Post tracked down the artist, Maurizio Cattelan, and asked why he’d offered to loan the piece to Trump:

Cattelan, reached by phone in New York, referred questions about the toilet to the Guggenheim, saying with a chuckle, “It’s a very delicate subject.” Asked to explain the meaning of his creation and why he offered it to the Trumps, he said: “What’s the point of our life? Everything seems absurd until we die and then it makes sense.”

Gosh, I hope that last part is true.