Eco-activists doused Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” with tomato soup: what is the protest

The masterpiece was protected by glass, the girls were arrested

The oil crisis in the UK hit great art. Van Gogh’s world-famous masterpiece “Sunflowers” became his victim. On the morning of October 14, two girls in identical T-shirts with the words “Just Stop Oil” entered the National Gallery in London, opened two cans of tomato soup, splashed their contents onto the picture and glued their palms to the wall. Their “performance” did not last long – the activists were arrested by the police. Fortunately, the masterpiece is exhibited under special glass, so the canvas was not damaged, except perhaps the frame.

Sunflowers, exhibited in room 43 of the National Gallery in London, is one of four works that Van Gogh painted in August 1888 for a guest bedroom in the “yellow house” in Arles. In total, the artist made four versions of this painting, only three have survived, and only two are available to the general public. The first option can be seen at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (since 2019, the work has not left the museum due to fragility), the second one – in London.

So the 43rd room in the National Gallery is especially popular thanks to the “Sunflowers” and it was this point of attraction that the activists chose to protest. It is connected with the energy crisis in the UK, because of which the country began to develop new oil and gas fields in the North Sea. The policy runs counter to efforts by environmentalists to curb global warming, say activists in the Just Stop Oil movement, which has been protesting for 14 days. The other day they blocked three roads in west London. The police literally carried the protesters away from the place of the action. But eco-activists do not stop trying to reach out to the authorities – now it has come to a vandal trick.

After the girls doused Sunflowers with tomato soup, they began to shout their slogans in the gallery: “What is more valuable? Art or life? Are you more concerned about protecting the painting? Or protecting our planet and people? The cost of living crisis is part of the oil crisis.” “Fuel is out of reach for millions of hungry and cold families. They can’t even afford to heat up a can of soup,” Phoebe Plummer, 21, added, waving the empty can.

Visitors greeted the action with sighs of “oh my God” and called the guards, who quickly rounded up the protesters. After that, Hall 43 was closed to the public, and the girls were taken away by the police. After the recent protest of the “Just Stop Oil” movement on the roads, the British authorities promised to “untie the hands of the police”, so that the girls who attacked the Van Gogh masterpiece are unlikely to get off lightly.

Restorers have yet to examine the damage to the masterpiece. Probably, the painting under glass was not damaged, but the frame is quite possible. In any case, the National Gallery will now have to assess the damage and conduct a study, so that the “Sunflowers” will not be available to the public for some time. By the way, one of the variants of this 1st cycle of “Sunflowers” (there was also the second – it includes seven still lifes) was sold at Christie’s auction in 1987 for $ 39.7 million and is now in a private collection. But over the years, the cost of work has increased significantly.