Just Stop Oil committed the act of vandalism just hours after two other people from the group were sentenced for a similar attack
Three ‘Just Stop Oil’ activists have been charged with criminal damage after throwing tomato soup at two Vincent van Gogh paintings from ‘The Sunflowers’ series at London’s National Gallery on Friday.
Stephen Simpson, 61, Phillipa Green, 24, and Mary Somerville, 77, have been arrested, the National Gallery said in a statement, adding that the paintings, which are encased in glass, were not damaged.
According to the museum, three people entered a room at the ‘Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers’ exhibition and threw a “soup-like substance” at two works, one of which is on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
“The paintings were removed from display and examined by a conservator and are unharmed. We are aiming to reopen the exhibition as soon as possible,” the National Gallery said.
In a video published by the activists on social media, the protesters are seen throwing soup from cans at the painting as visitors are heard reacting with outrage.
“Future generations will regard these prisoners of conscience to be on the right side of history,” Phil Green, one of those taking part in the action, said.
The stunt came hours after two ‘Just Stop Oil’ protesters, Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, were handed prison terms for causing an estimated £10,000 of damage ($13,400) to the frame of a van Gogh painting in 2022.
Just Stop Oil said the action was a “sign of defiance” in response to the sentencing of Plummer and Holland, who received sentences of two years and 20 months respectively. The judge, Christopher Hehir, said the “cultural treasure” could have been irreparably damaged or even destroyed.
“You couldn’t have cared less if the painting was damaged or not,” the judge said. “You had no right to do what you did to Sunflowers.”
Just Stop Oil has grabbed headlines by vandalizing works of art and disrupting traffic across the UK to pressure the government into suspending fossil fuel extraction licenses. Van Gogh’s painting is the latest work to be targeted by climate activists. In recent years, works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Andy Warhol, and Claude Monet have been attacked.
