The activists then glued themselves to the wall at London’s National Gallery
Just Stop Oil activists threw the contents of two cans of Heinz tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888) at room 43 of London’s National Gallery today.
The painting, which is framed in protective glass, was attacked by the protesters – wearing Just Stop Oil shirts – at 11am, who then proceeded to glue themselves to the wall around it. One protester asked: “What is worth more: art or life?”
“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,” they said.
Both activists were subsequently arrested for criminal damage and aggravated trespass, a police statement confirmed, adding: ‘Officers are now de-bonding them.’
26 July 2024: The Just Stop Oil activists involved in throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888) at London’s National Gallery in October 2022 – Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland – have been found guilty of criminal damage, BBC News reports.
Shortly after the attack, the National Gallery said that the frame of the glass-covered painting had ‘minor damage’. The painting was promptly removed from the gallery before being hung back to its original place.
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Christopher Hehir told Plummer and Holland to be ‘prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison’ when they are sentenced on 27 September.
