Environmentalists threw tomato soup at Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting “Sunflowers” in London on Friday.
As reported by the National Gallery, the work from 1888 remained undamaged, only the frame was slightly damaged. According to British media, the painting, which has an estimated value of around 84 million euros, was protected by a pane of glass. According to the Guardian newspaper, the women were aware of this. The two activists from the group “Just Stop Oil” were arrested for serious trespassing and property damage, as Scotland Yard announced.
A scream of horror echoes through the room
A video of the incident on the Guardian website shows the young women pouring the contents of two cans onto the painting at the London art museum. A scream of horror can be heard in the background. Shortly thereafter, the women glued themselves to the wall next to the dirty work of art with superglue and shouted slogans into the waiting cameras. “What is worth more, art or life?” said one of the activists.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) sharply criticized the action. “It’s good to be public about your beliefs. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to damage property,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that he thinks it’s “really dumb to promote a supposedly good cause by literally shoving cultural treasures through the dirt.” pulls”.
“Just Stop Oil” has been demonstrating for two weeks in London with sit-ins against the granting of new licenses for oil and gas production in Great Britain. Also on Friday, 24 activists from the group were arrested outside London Police Headquarters after spraying paint at the Scotland Yard sign and blocking traffic.
It is the group’s second attack on a van Gogh painting in London. Back in June, two members of the group glued themselves to the frame of the painting “Peach Trees in Blossom” at London’s Courtauld Gallery. A spokesman for the group justified the action to the Guardian on Friday. “We don’t want to make friends, we’re trying to create change and unfortunately that’s the way change happens.”
