Two young female ecology activists vandalized an iconic painting in a London museum to protest against fossil fuel use. Then, they glued their hands to the wall upon which the painting was displayed.
Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” an 1888 painting is on display at London’s National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. The two activists threw tomato soup on the painting, which was reportedly behind glass, then glued themselves to the wall.
Now, their hands are probably glued to the bars of their jail cell while they await trial for their alleged act of vandalism.
The Daily Wire further reported:
Vincent van Gogh’s iconic “Sunflowers,” valued at nearly $85 million was undamaged in the attack at London’s National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, thanks to a glass covering. But the shocking display left museum-goers gasping and calling for security.
“Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?” one of the suspects asked as shocked spectators gathered at the scene.
The two suspects glued their hands to the museum wall after dousing the painting with two cans of Heinz tomato soup at around 11 a.m. local time. London police officers arrested them for criminal damage and aggravated trespassing.
A video posted on Twitter by the Guardian newspaper’s environment correspondent Damien Gayle and retweeted by the eco-activism group showed the incident, with the two young protesters gluing themselves to the wall after hurling the soup.
“I’m pretty sure most of the pollution comes from burning oil rather than painting with it,” Daily Wire host Michael Knowles quipped in a tweet.
The attack was attributed to the protest group Just Stop Oil, members of which in July glued their hands to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at a museum in London. In June, members glued themselves to another van Gogh painting, “Peach Trees Blossom,” at London’s Courtauld Gallery, and in May, a cross-dressing climate-change activist threw cake at the Mona Lisa.
“Is art worth more than life?” Just Stop Oil asked in a Friday tweet. “More than food?”
Van Gogh painted “Sunflowers” in 1888. It is the most famous of a series of still lives of the flowers that he painted while living in Arles, France. The troubled artist, who famously lopped off his ear after having his heart broken, died just two years later when he shot himself in the chest at age 37.
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