Vincent van Gogh‘s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London, England, on Friday.The young activists from Just Stop Oil, a U.K.-based climate campaign group, threw the canned soup over the painting, which is protected by glass, and glued their hands to the wall underneath the iconic artwork.
Hidden Van Gogh self-portrait discovered on the back of earlier painting Phoebe Plummer, 21, and Anna Holland, 20, removed their jackets to reveal their “Just Stop Oil” T-shirts just before the protest, The Guardian reported.Spectators in the room were audibly shocked by the display, with some in the gallery calling for security.
As Holland held the empty can of soup in her hand, Pummer questioned if the van Gogh painting is “worth more than food? More than justice?”“Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?” Plummer asked.“The cost-of-living crisis is part of the cost-of-oil crisis.
Fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families,” she continued. “They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.”The protesters were quickly removed from the room by National Gallery staff.