A museum has turned down Donald Trump’s request for a Van Gogh painting – and offered him a golden toilet instead. According to reports, the Guggenheim Museum in New York did not want to let the 1888 masterpiece go and instead offered up the fully-working solid 18-carat gold toilet – an art installation by Maurizio Cattelan.

The toilet, titled America, has been at the museum since September 2016 and is available for the public to use.

It is reported that tens of thousands of people have made use of the gold piece.

President Trump’s administration had written to ask if it could borrow Landscape with Snow, believed to have been the first painting Van Gogh made in Arles and was one of 10 he made of a snowy landscape from 1882 to 1889.

According to the Washington Post the Guggenheim’s chief curator, Nancy Spector, turned down the request.

In an email confirmed to the newspaper Ms Spector said: “Should the President and First Lady have any interest in installing it in the White House, [the artist] would like to offer it to the White House for a long-term loan.

“It is, of course, extremely valuable and somewhat fragile, but we would provide all the instructions for its installation and care.”