Van Gogh

Two activists attacked the famous painting at the National Gallery, in London.

[works including Rubens’s “Massacre of the Innocents,”](https://www.dw.com/en/climate-activists-damage-frame-of-a-rubens-painting-in-munich/a-62927968) which hangs in the Alte Pinakothek, in Munich. Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” had nothing to do with climate change, she said. And Just Stop Oil planned further actions, she added. It is one of six surviving images of sunflowers that van Gogh made in 1888 and 1889. Within minutes, the stunt grabbed attention worldwide, and many social media users expressed concern for the painting’s condition. [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/), a group that seeks to stop oil and gas extraction in Britain, entered room 43 of the National Gallery in London, opened two tins of Heinz cream of tomato soup, and threw them at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” one of the treasures of the museum’s collection.

LONDON — Climate protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in London's National Gallery on Friday to protest fossil fuel extraction, ...

Several also glued themselves to the road, blocking traffic. The two protesters also glued themselves to the gallery wall. The soup splashed across the glass covering the painting and its gilded frame.

Climate change protesters have thrown soup over Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting at the National Gallery in London.

"It is the painting that is most often reproduced on cards, posters, mugs, tea-towels and stationery. The gallery said in a statement there was "some minor damage to the frame but the painting is unharmed". "Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?

Climate change protesters have thrown soup over Vincent van Gogh's painting "Sunflowers" at London's National Gallery, the Just...

Just Stop Oil said the painting, which dates to 1888, has a value of $A134 million). "Officers were rapidly on scene at the National Gallery this morning after two Just Stop Oil protesters threw a substance over a painting and then glued themselves to a wall," police said on Twitter. A video posted by the group, which has been holding protests for the last two weeks in the British capital, showed two women throwing two tins of Heinz tomato soup over the painting, one of five versions on display in museums and galleries around the world.

Just after 11 a.m. on Friday morning, two young climate protesters entered a room in the National Gallery in London containing one of Vincent van Gogh's ...

It can feel overwhelming facing the impacts of climate change, but there are [ways to cope with climate anxiety](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/climate-change-anxiety-dread-cope/2021/07/14/471eb264-e4d4-11eb-b722-89ea0dde7771_story.html?itid=lb_more-on-climate-change_6). As temperatures rise, heat waves are more often sweeping the globe — and parts of the world are [becoming too hot to survive](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/climate-change-humidity/?itid=lb_more-on-climate-change_4&itid=lb_more-on-climate-change_3). As seas rise, others are exploring [how to harness marine energy](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/cop26-scotland-wave-energy-renewables/?itid=lb_more-on-climate-change_14&itid=lb_more-on-climate-change_8). area to push President Biden to declare a “climate emergency.” Another group, known as the Tyre Extinguishers, has been letting the air out of SUV tires across the [United Kingdom](https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dg7qn/who-are-the-tyre-extinguishers) and in [New York](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/tire-deflators-suv-new-york-climate-crisis), arguing that the vehicles use more gas and are harmful to pedestrians and cyclists. At least to the activists involved, the fact that the protest had gone viral was probably viewed as a success. [glued themselves](https://twitter.com/UltimaGenerazi1/status/1550481833690890241?s=20&t=UFTmNPnb5LJ5ItK09fxuwQ) to a painting by Sandro Botticelli at the Uffizi museum in Florence. [climbed on the roof](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/17/extinction-rebellion-activists-london-underground) of a commuter train in London, preventing people from getting to work and causing a scuffle between commuters and protesters. Now that attention for that has cooled down, they have moved on to at least the appearance of defacing artworks, in an attempt to attract more eyes. “There is some minor damage to the frame, but the painting is unharmed,” the National Gallery said in a statement. The media gets accustomed to particular types of activism; a march or a sit-in that once commanded attention soon gets written off as old news. But the climate art stunt was still a strange form of protest, one that seemed more likely to alienate people. In July, protesters glued themselves to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain,” also in London’s National Gallery, after pasting their own “apocalyptic” vision of the future over the painting’s surface.

Two Just Stop Oil protestors threw a can of tomato soup on Van Gogh's “Sunflowers” painting in London's National Gallery. Here's why.

The artwork is glazed, and apart from minor damage to the frame, the painting is allegedly unharmed. “What is worth more, art or life?” said one of the soup activists while stuck to the wall. [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/), an organization that seeks to halt oil and gas extraction in Britain, launched glugs of Heinz tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting.

Activists with the group Just Stop Oil threw soup on a Vincent van Gogh painting at the National Gallery in London.

Still others raised the possibility that van Gogh was not the right artist to target. [Just Stop Oil](https://www.artnews.com/t/just-stop-oil/), threw tomato soup on van Gogh’s Sunflowers, an important example of the Post-Impressionist’s style and one of the National Gallery’s many treasures. [splashed with slime](https://twitter.com/suchavogue1/status/1580883859432157185) and sardonically [asking what van Gogh did](https://twitter.com/StokeyyG2/status/1580881421102567425) to hurt the climate. They then spread glue across their hands and place them to the wall. We all own that painting.” [said](https://twitter.com/andrewdoyle_com/status/1580872772590239746) the protest “represents a repudiation of civilisation and the achievements of humanity.”

Two women have been charged with criminal damage after climate change protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting, police say.

The gallery said the incident had caused minor damage to the frame but the painting was unharmed. - The National Gallery says there was minor damage to the frame, but the painting was unharmed - Police charge climate activists with "criminal damage" to Vincent van Gogh painting

Two women are to appear in court charged with criminal damage to frame of Sunflowers at London's National Gallery.

The action is expected to last for more than a month. Lora Johnson, 38, of Reydon, Suffolk, also appeared in court on Saturday charged with criminal damage to the main sign outside New Scotland Yard. Two women have appeared in court charged with criminal damage to the frame of Vincent van Gogh’s painting Sunflowers.

Two anti-fossil fuel protesters who were filmed throwing tomato soup on Van Gogh's Sunflowers - a painting ...

A total of 28 arrests were made in relation to protests in central London on Friday. According to a statement, Just Stop Oil timed Friday's act "to coincide with the planned launch of a new round of oil and gas licensing" in the UK. In a subsequent tweet, the gallery explained that the painting was glazed and therefore protected.

The climate activists who threw soup over Vincent van Gogh's famous "Sunflowers" painting appeared in a court in London on charges of criminal damages.

The painting was covered by glass, and it was cleaned and returned to the National Gallery Friday afternoon. They were removed by specialists and taken into custody, according to the London Metropolitan Police. It has an estimated value of $80.99 million.