Some may remember when, earlier this year, an environmental activist smeared cake on the “Mona Lisa” in protest. In a similar act of protest, two climate protesters opened up two cans of Heinz tomato soup and threw it at a Van Gogh painting on Friday. Afterward, the protestors glued themselves to the wall.
According to The Associated Press, the two protesters are associated with the group Just Stop Oil, which advocates for the British government to not start any new oil and gas projects.
The protesters walked up to Van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery and threw the soup at it. The painting itself was not damaged, but there was some damage to the frame.
CNBC reported that after they had thrown the soup on the painting, the protesters glued themselves to the wall and asked, “What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people? The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis, fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.”
The protesters were arrested after they were unglued from the wall.
Activists with @JustStop_Oil have thrown tomato soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the national Gallery and glued themselves to the wall. pic.twitter.com/M8YP1LPTOU
— Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) October 14, 2022
This isn’t the first time that Just Stop Oil protesters have glued themselves to art.
Earlier this year, The Guardian reported that five protesters glued themselves to Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” They had also glued themselves to a different Van Gogh painting around that same time.
The National Gallery responded to this incident with a statement on Twitter.
Statement from the National Gallery pic.twitter.com/DuZhTbAvbH
— National Gallery (@NationalGallery) October 14, 2022