Activists throw soup on Van Gogh paintings just hours after 2 jailed in similar attack. Watch
Climate activists vandalised Vincent Van Gogh's ‘Sunflowers’ paintings just hours after two Just Stop Oil supporters were sentenced in a similar attack
Just Stop Oil activists vandalised a pair of paintings by the famous Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh on Friday. The art pieces, identified as Sunflowers (1888) and Sunflowers (1889), were targeted in the Poets and Lovers exhibition at the National Gallery in central London. In a now-viral video of the incident, three supporters of the controversial group can be seen throwing what appeared to be tomato soup on the Van Gogh paintings.
Activists throw soup on Van Gogh paintings just hours after 2 jailed in similar attack
The incident came just hours after two other activists with the same environmental group were sentenced for a similar attack—Phoebe Plummer, 23, was sentenced to two years, while Anna Holland, 22, was given a 20-month jail term for throwing soup over the same Sunflowers (1888) by Van Gogh in October 2022.
In the video of Friday's incident shared by Just Stop Oil on X, formerly Twitter, a group of activists who were later arrested can be seen throwing orange-coloured soup before addressing an angry crowd. “There are people in prison for demanding an end to new oil and gas, something which is now government policy after sustained, disruptive actions, countless headlines and the resulting political pressure,” one of the activists said.
“Future generations will regard these prisoners of conscience to be on the right side of history,” they added. While the paintings were not damaged due to protective glass coverings, they were removed for examination. Once they were placed back in their designated locations, the gallery opened per usual later that day, reported the Associated Press.
Their attack was reportedly carried out in protest of Plummer and Holland's sentencing after they were found guilty of criminal damage, per the outlet. In the 2022 vandalism, the gold-coloured painting frame suffered $13,000 worth of damage. Judge Christopher Hehir said the artwork could have been “seriously damaged or even destroyed.”
