Two protestors made quite the move at the National Gallery this morning by vandalizing Van Gogh’s famous ‘Sunflowers’ painting with cans of tomato soup. The two involved then glued themselves to the wall below the piece.
During their time there before the police arrived, they spoke out to raise awareness about the cost of oil, specifically in the context of the energy crisis taking place in the UK.
Just Stop Oil activists have vandalized Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ masterpiece.
Two protestors from the organization , which is “a coalition of groups working together to ensure the Government commits to halting new fossil fuel licensing and production” according to their website, walked into the National Gallery at around 11 A.M. this morning.
They then opened two cans of Heinz tomato soup.
Before anyone could see or recognize what was about to happen, they threw the soup onto Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’, covering it almost entirely.
The two women then each glued one of their hands to the wall directly below the painting.
Thankfully, the painting is protected by a pane of glass.
The museum confirmed in an update that, besides some minor damage to the frame, Sunflowers is completely unharmed and the two activists have been arrested.
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In a video of the incident, one of the women, Pheobe Plummer, can be heard asking, “What is worth more? Art or life?”
Just Stop Oil has been conducting various protests over the past two weeks.
But this is by far the flashiest and most extreme.
During her time glued to the gallery wall, Plummer said, “Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting? Or the protection of our planet and people?”
“Fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.”
h/t: Sky News
