Three activists from ‘Just Stop Oil’ have been charged with criminal damage for throwing tomato soup at two Vincent van Gogh paintings at London’s National Gallery. The paintings were not damaged, as they are encased in glass. The activists, Stephen Simpson, Phillipa Green, and Mary Somerville, were arrested after the incident.
According to the museum, the activists entered a room at the ‘Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers’ exhibition and threw a “soup-like substance” at the paintings. A video published on social media shows the protesters throwing soup from cans at the artwork, causing outrage among visitors.
This act of vandalism came just hours after two other members of ‘Just Stop Oil’ were sentenced for a similar attack on a van Gogh painting in 2022. The group said the action was a “sign of defiance” in response to the sentencing. Just Stop Oil has been targeting works of art and disrupting traffic to pressure the UK government to suspend fossil fuel extraction licenses.
This incident is part of a trend where climate activists target famous works of art to raise awareness about environmental issues. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Andy Warhol, and Claude Monet have also been attacked in recent years.