Two women have been charged with criminal damage after climate change protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s painting "Sunflowers" at London's National Gallery, British police said on Saturday.
A video posted by the Just Stop Oil campaign group, which has been holding protests for the last two weeks in the British capital, showed two of its activists on Friday throwing tins of Heinz tomato soup over the painting, one of five versions on display in museums and galleries around the world.
The gallery said the incident had caused minor damage to the frame but the painting was unharmed. It later went back on display.
Police said two women, aged 21 and 20, would appear later at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with "criminal damage to the frame of van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting".
Another activist will also appear in court accused of damaging the sign outside the New Scotland Yard police headquarters in central London.
Police said in total 28 people had been arrested during protests on Friday.
Climate activists throw soup on Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' to protest fossil fuel extraction
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 discernible damage to the glass-covered painting.
The group Just Stop Oil, which wants the British government to halt new oil and gas projects, said activists dumped two cans of tomato soup over the oil painting, one of the Dutch artist’s most iconic works. The two protesters also glued themselves to the gallery wall.
The soup splashed across the glass covering the painting and its gilded frame. The gallery said “there is some minor damage to the frame but the painting is unharmed.” The work is one of several versions of “Sunflowers” that Van Gogh painted in the late 1880s.
There were gasps, roars and a shout of “Oh my gosh!” in room 43 of the gallery as two young supporters of the climate protest group threw the liquid over the painting, which is protected by glass, just after 11am.
They removed jackets to reveal Just Stop Oil T-shirts before gluing themselves to the wall beneath the artwork, which is one of the gallery’s most important treasures.
“What is worth more, art or life?” said one of the activists, Phoebe Plummer, 21, from London. She was accompanied by 20-year-old Anna Holland, from Newcastle. “Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?
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.
In July:Climate protesters glue themselves to 'The Last Supper,' other UK gallery paintings in striking demonstration.
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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.
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