Climate protesters throw soup on Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ painting in London
Climate protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery on Friday to protest fossil fuel extraction, but caused no damage to the glass-covered painting.
The gathering Stop Oil, which maintains that the English government should end new oil and gas projects, said activists unloaded two jars of tomato soup over the oil painting, one of the Dutch craftsman’s most famous works. The two dissenters likewise stuck themselves to the exhibition wall.
The soup sprinkled across the glass covering the canvas and its overlaid outline. The exhibition said “there is a minor harm to the casing yet the work of art is safe.” It was cleaned and gotten back to its spot in the display on Friday evening.
The work is one of several versions of “Sunflowers” that Van Gogh painted in the late 1880s.
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested two people on suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespass.
“Specialist officers have now un-glued them and they have been taken into custody to a central London police station,” the force said in a statement.
A gathering of nonconformists from a similar gathering later assembled at police base camp and showered yellow paint over the pivoting “New Scotland Yard” sign before it. A few likewise stuck themselves to the street, obstructing traffic. Police said 24 individuals were captured.
Just Stop Oil has drawn attention, and criticism, for targeting artworks in museums. In July, Just Stop Oil activists glued themselves to the frame of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” in the National Gallery.
Activists have also blocked bridges and intersections across London during two weeks of protests.
The rush of exhibits comes as the English government opens a new permitting round for North Ocean oil and gas investigation, notwithstanding analysis from tree huggers and researchers who say the move subverts the country’s obligation to battling environmental change.